valentine

Etymology

It comes from the name of Saint Valentine, a 3rd-century Roman martyr commemorated on 14 February,^[2][3] from Old French Valentin,^[4][5][6] from Late Latin Valentīnus, the name of two early Italian saints.^[3][7][6] Etymonline derives the name from valentia (“strength, capacity”),^[7] and Skeat from the present participle of valeō (“to be strong”).^[8] The OED compares Middle French valentine (“sweetheart”), recorded before 1465, and the phrase feste valentine.^[2] The name is found in Britain as a male forename from the late 12th century, and as a surname from the middle of the 13th.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A saint, or God or Christ, chosen by a person as a patron: 1447, in Osbern Bokenham's Lives of Saints (obsolete by 1656).^[2] The sense “sweetheart” follows about 1450, in the poems of Charles d'Orléans;^[2] Barnhart dates the form Volontyn, a sweetheart chosen on Saint Valentine's Day, to before 1450.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The day itself, seynt Volantynys day, is named about 1380 in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, where it is the day “Whan euery bryd cometh there to chese his make”.^[7][3][9] Barnhart calls the origin of the custom of choosing a sweetheart on that day obscure, noting that the earliest sources refer it to the belief that birds begin to mate on 14 February.^[3] Etymonline places its start in English and French court circles in the 14th century, perhaps on an informal first day of spring, and finds no evidence connecting it with the Roman Lupercalia or with either saint;^[7] the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins leaves open both the bird belief and a survival of the Lupercalia, celebrated on the 15th.^[10] The OED thinks that the folk belief about birds may also explain spellings like volentine.^[2] From 1519 a valentine was also a slip of paper with a name, drawn by lot to choose one's sweetheart, and a gift given on the day, at first often a piece of jewellery.^[2][6] Johnson (1755) defined the word only as “a sweetheart, chosen on Valentine's day”.^[11] The letter or card sent on the day is recorded from 1720 in the OED,^[2] from 1824 in Barnhart and Etymonline;^[3][7] according to Etymonline, sending cards flourished in England about 1840–1870, declined around 1900 and revived in the 1920s.^[7] In Scotland between 1556 and 1686 a valentine was also a sealed writ from the Crown naming suspects a landholder had to arrest.^[2] In Rutland and Northamptonshire, valentine buns were baked and given to godchildren around the day, and in Scotland valentines were drawn by lot from slips bearing the names of the company.^[12] In American prison slang from 1910 a valentine was a short sentence, at most a year, and in police slang from 1930 a reprimand.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – seynt Volantynys day, Saint Valentine's Day, in Chaucer.^[3][7]
• 1447 – a patron saint chosen by a person (obsolete by 1656).^[2]
• c. 1450 – a sweetheart.^[2] Barnhart dates the form Volontyn to before 1450.^[3]
• 1519 – a paper with a name drawn by lot; a gift given on Valentine's Day.^[2][6]
• 1556 – in Scotland, a royal writ naming suspected criminals (obsolete by 1686).^[2]
• 1714 – Valentine's Day itself.^[2]
• 1720 – a letter or card sent on Valentine's Day.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline first record it in 1824.^[3][7]
• 1844 – verb, of a bird, to seek a mate.^[2]
• 1857 – verb, to send or exchange valentines.^[2]
• 1910 – American prison slang, a short sentence.^[13]
• 1941 – a British infantry tank of the Second World War.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A card or message of love or affection sent, often anonymously, on Valentine's Day: He found three valentines in his locker.^[14][15][2]
2. A sweetheart chosen or greeted on Valentine's Day; one's beloved.^[14][15][2]
3. A gift given to a sweetheart on Valentine's Day.^[15][2]
4. (dialectal, British) One of a set of folded papers bearing names, drawn by lot to choose a valentine.^[15][2][5]

Verb

1. To send valentines, or to celebrate Valentine's Day.^[2][5]

Related words

• Valentine's Day
• valence

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster