value

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvæl.juː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English valeu, borrowed from Old French value (“worth, price; standing, reputation”),^[2][3] a noun use of the feminine past participle of valoir (“to be worth”),^[2][4][5] from Latin valēre (“to be strong, be well, be worth”),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *wal- (“to be strong”).^[2][6] Merriam-Webster gives an intermediate Vulgar Latin *valūta, feminine of *valūtus.^[7][8] Latin valēre is the source also of valiant and valid.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fair equivalent in exchange; worth, price: about 1303, valeu, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne,^[3][9] with the spelling value before 1376, in Piers Plowman.^[3] The material or monetary worth of a thing is from 1338.^[9]

Semantic evolution

By the late 14th century it also meant usefulness, non-material worth, and the regard or esteem in which something is held.^[2][10] The amount represented by a symbol in mathematics is from the 16th century,^[11] and in music the relative length of a note, and in painting the relation of light and shade, are later technical senses.^[2] The verb “to estimate the worth of” is from the mid-15th century,^[2] or 1482,^[9] and “to think highly of” from 1592.^[9][11] Value judgement, from 1889, is a loan-translation of German Werturteil.^[2] The sense “a principle or standard of behaviour”, usually in the plural, is attested by 1915 in sociology.^[2] Value added in economics is from 1935.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – valeu, a fair equivalent.^[3][9]
• 1338 – monetary worth.^[9]
• late 14th century – usefulness, esteem.^[2]
• 1482 – verb, to appraise.^[9]
• 1592 – verb, to esteem.^[9]
• 16th century – the value of a symbol.^[11]
• 1889 – value judgement.^[2]
• 1915 – values, social principles.^[2]
• 1935 – value added.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A fair or suitable equivalent in goods, services or money for something.
2. Monetary or material worth.
3. Usefulness or importance; merit.
4. A principle or standard considered worthwhile: family values.
5. (mathematics) An assigned or calculated numerical quantity.
6. (music) The relative duration of a note.

Verb

1. To estimate the worth of; to appraise.
2. To regard highly; to esteem.

Word family

• valuer
• valueless
• valuelessness
• disvalue
• misvalue
• outvalue
• overvalue
• revalue

Related words

• valid
• valiant
• valour
• evaluate
• avail
• prevail
• equivalent

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press