valentia

Forms

valentia f (genitive valentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin valēns + -ia,^[2] the noun of valēns (“strong”), present participle of valeō (“to be strong, be well”).^[3][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *walē- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ulh₁-eh₁- (“to be strong”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the OLD find it first in Naevius, in a tragedy: omnes formidant homines eius valentiam, “all men fear his might”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the comic poet Titinius wisdom, not strength, steers the ship (sapientia gubernator navem torquet, non valentia).^[2][3] L&S call it an ante- and post-classical word;^[3] it returns in Macrobius and Tertullian, and Boethius uses it for a capacity or endowment beyond the common measure of people.^[3] A fragment quoted by Servius on the Aeneid uses it to render Greek ῥώμη (rhṓmē, “strength”), taken to be the source of the name of Rome.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it meant health, the legal force or validity of a document, value or price, and military aid.^[5][6] English took it as valence in the early 15th century, first as the name of a medicinal preparation.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius speaks of the might that all men fear.^[2][4][8]
• end of the 2nd or beginning of the 1st century BC – Titinius sets wisdom against bodily strength.^[2][3][8]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it.^[3][8]
• first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it.^[3][8]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as valence.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Power, might, bodily strength, vigour.^[2][3]
2. (Late Latin) Capacity, natural endowment.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Health.^[5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Validity, legal force.^[5]
5. (Medieval Latin) Value, price.^[5][6]
6. (Medieval Latin) Military aid.^[5]

Related words

• validus
• English valence

Usage notes

The capitalised Valentia was the name of several towns, among them Valencia in Spain and Valence in Gaul.^[3] Etymonline explains the Spanish city's name from this word.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de