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valore

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word valore

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1294, Guittone d'Arezzo
Borrowed from
Latin valor
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-

Pronunciation

Forms

valore[1] Old and dialect forms include vallore, valori and valuri.[2] Guittone uses the word as a feminine, after Occitan.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin valor (“worth, value”), a noun formed from Latin valeō (“to be strong; to be worth”).[3][4][5][1] DEI and the GDLI call it a learned word;[6][2] DEI adds that the Late Latin noun, found in the glosses, rendered Ancient Greek τιμή (timḗ, “honour; price”) and took over from virtūs, which had narrowed to moral worth.[6][2] Wiktionary compares the classical valētūdō.[1] DEI and Korting set it beside French valeur, Old French valour in the 12th century, and the same word is Occitan valor, Catalan valor, Spanish valor and Portuguese valor.[6][4][7]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Italic *walēō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to be strong”); its relatives include Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌽 (waldan, “to rule”) and Lithuanian valdýti (“to rule, govern”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record before 1294;[5][3] DELI finds the word, used as a feminine in the Occitan way, in Guittone d'Arezzo.[5][3] In the poetry of the Sicilian school it named the excellence of a person, above all the beloved lady: Giacomo da Lentini writes Vostro valuri adorna ed invia donne e donzelli, “your worth adorns and guides ladies and young men”.[2]

Semantic evolution

For Dante the word is a key term, the worth of a person in moral, intellectual and courtly qualities, and he discusses its meanings in the Convivio.[3] He also uses it for price and worth, and calls God the eterno Valore.[3][9] Boccaccio adds the sense “courage in arms”, the source of the modern valor militare and valor civile and of the derivative valoroso.[3][4]

Grammar and music took the word in the 16th century: Zarlino uses it for the length of a note (before 1590), and Tasso for the meaning of a word.[3] This musical sense passed into French as valeur (1703) and into German as Valore (1732).[10] In the 19th century valori came to mean securities (1867), whence borsa valori; mathematics and science use it for the number that measures a quantity.[3] The plural valori “ideals, what is held true, good or beautiful” is recorded in Zingarelli's dictionary of 1922.[3]

Timeline

  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses valore, as a feminine.[3][5]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante makes it a key term of the Convivio.[3]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for courage.[3]
  • Before 1590 – Zarlino uses it for the length of a note.[3]
  • 1703 – French valeur takes over the musical sense.[10]
  • 1812 – The sense “weight, purity and colour of a gem” is recorded.[3]
  • 1867 – Valori “securities” appears in the Verona paper L'Arena.[3]
  • 1922 – Zingarelli records valori as moral ideals.[3][11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. value, the worth of a thing in money; price: Questa casa ha perso valore negli ultimi anni.[5][12][13]
  2. (economics) The property of a good that makes it exchangeable or useful: valore d'uso, valore di scambio.[5][14]
  3. (plural) Securities; valuables, jewellery: borsa valori.[5][3]
  4. Merit, the moral, intellectual or professional qualities of a person: un architetto di valore.[5][15][11]
  5. courage, bravery: medaglia al valor militare.[5][12][14]
  6. (literary) Virtue.[5][11]
  7. Importance, significance; validity: Quella lettera ha per lei un grande valore.[5][11][13]
  8. (plural) The ideals and principles regarded as the foundation of life and society: valori civili.[11][3]
  9. (mathematics, science) The number expressing a quantity: valore assoluto.[3][12]
  10. (music) The length of a note or rest.[3][10]
  11. (linguistics) Meaning, function of a word.[13][3]

Word family

  • valoroso
  • valorizzare
  • valorizzazione
  • avvalorare
  • controvalore
  • disvalore
  • valoriale

Usage notes

Wiktionary also records valore di as an adverbial phrase, “as much as, as many as”.[1] The Latin phrase ad valorem, of customs duties charged on the declared value, is recorded in Italian in 1872.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 642
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3983
  7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Valore.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/valore. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·