Etymologically
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value

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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
  • 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