valenza

Forms

valenza f (plural valenze)^[1] Old forms include valenzia, vagliènza, valenga and valensa.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Late Latin valentia (“strength, vigour; ability”), from valēns (“strong, healthy”), the present participle of valeō (“to be strong, be well”).^{[4][3][5][6][7][1]} DEI and the GDLI compare French vaillance, recorded from the 12th century.^[3][2] Wiktionary also allows a formation within Italian from valente.^[1]

DEI gives the chemical term a heading of its own, as a fresh learned borrowing of the Late Latin word in Boethius's sense “capacity”, alongside French valence and the English word valence of 1884.^[3] Etymonline traces the English chemical sense to German Valenz of 1868, itself from the Latin word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest quotations in the GDLI are from the 13th-century love poets, starting with Giacomo da Lentini, where the word means the high worth of a person, especially the perfection of every gift in a beloved lady: Se merzé con voi, bella, statesse, / null’altra valenza più mi valesse (“if mercy dwelt with you, fair one, no other worth would help me more”).^[2] DEI and Nocentini also date it to the 13th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word also meant courage shown in battle and a valiant deed, and Marco Polo's translator says of a man that he was di grande valenza e di senno e di prodezza (“of great worth, wisdom and prowess”).^[2] From the 14th century, in Sacchetti, it also meant price or value in money, and Brunetto Latini writes of the Venetians demanding back la nave o la valenza (“the ship or its value”).^[3][2] D'Annunzio still used the old sense: Or dove n’andò vostra valenza? (“Where has your valour gone now?”).^[2][9]

The chemical sense, the combining power of an atom, is recorded from Lessona in 1875.^[10] Biology later added chromosomal and ecological valence, and linguistics the valency of verbs, nouns and adjectives.^[2][9][11] The now common sense “value, significance, implication” is first found in Carlo Emilio Gadda in 1944.^[10]

Timeline

• 13th century – The love poets use the word for “worth, excellence”.^[2][3][4]
• 14th century – Sacchetti uses it for “value, price”.^[3]
• 1875 – Lessona uses the chemical sense.^[10]
• 1879 – DEI's date for the chemical term.^[3]
• 1884 – English valence takes the chemical sense.^[3][8]
• 1944 – Gadda uses it for “value, significance”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Value, significance or implication of something: la valenza simbolica di quel gesto.^{[6][11][9][12]}
2. (chemistry) valence: the capacity of an atom to combine with others, expressed as the number of hydrogen atoms it can bind or replace, or the number of electrons it gives up, takes or shares in a bond.^{[6][13][11][5]}
3. (linguistics) valency: the capacity of a verb, noun or adjective to take a given number of complements.^[11][9][14]
4. (biology) In valenza ecologica, the degree to which a species can adapt to environmental conditions.^[11][12][2]
5. (literary or archaic) Worth, valour, courage.^{[6][11][9][14]}

Word family

• ambivalenza
• covalenza
• elettrovalenza
• monovalenza
• bivalenza
• trivalenza

Related words

• valente
• valere
• valentia
• valore
• English valence

Usage notes

An old valenza meaning a heavy bed cover is shortened from valenzana.^[2] DEI also records valenza for a fabric for curtains in the 17th century and terra di Valenza, a fireproof clay for crucibles, both named after Valencia in Spain.^[3] With a capital, Valenza is the Italian name of Valencia and of Valence.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 632
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3979
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana