vale

vale¹ valley

Etymology tree of vale¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin vallis

French val

Italian valle

Portuguese vale

Romanian vale

Spanish valle

From the same root · vale¹

English vale ← vallis

French vallée ← vallis

Latin convallis ← vallis

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /ˈva.li/^[1]
• Portugal: /ˈva.lɨ/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /ˈba.lɨ/^[1]

Forms

vale m (plural vales)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese also has the short form val, still used in place names and in Galician.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

The word for the valley is inherited from Latin vallis (“valley”), written Old Galician-Portuguese vale and Old Galician-Portuguese val in the oldest texts.^[4][5][1] The same Latin word is Galician val, Spanish valle, Catalan vall, French val, Italian valle and Romanian vale.^[6][1]

The Latin noun was feminine, as it still is in Italian and Catalan;^[7][8][6] Portuguese, Spanish and French made it masculine after monte, with which it is paired in the phrase ⟨por montes e vales⟩.^[7][8][6] Place names keep traces of the feminine, such as ⟨Valboa⟩ and ⟨Valmediana⟩.^[7]

De Vaan finds no certain etymology for the Latin word: a link with the place name Ancient Greek Ἦλις (Êlis), if this once meant “lowland”, is possible, and Germanic and Baltic words for “round” have been compared.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters write per ille ualle in 950 and per una ualle in 1104.^[2] In Galician-Portuguese the Cantigas de Santa Maria have a eigreja qu'en un vale jaz “the church that lies in a valley” and montes e vales e chãos “mountains, valleys and plains”, with the sense of today.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Figurative phrases came from religious language: vale de lágrimas “vale of tears”, the world as a place of suffering, and vale de Josafá, where the dead are to rise at the Last Judgement.^[11][12][13] Geography gave vale suspenso “hanging valley” and vale anticlinal.^[4][14] In Brazil it also means the low plain along a river, and in Rio Grande do Sul a wide stretch of low ground between hills.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 950 – per ille ualle in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 13th century – vale and val in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][4]
• 14th century – the spelling ualle.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders vale with Latin vallis.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A valley: a long hollow between hills or mountains, often cut by a river or a glacier.^[4][13][1]
2. Low, more or less flat land along a river; a várzea.^[4][14]
3. The land drained by a river, its basin: o vale do Douro.^[17][13]
4. (figurative) Any hollow like a valley.^[4]

Word family

• vale de lágrimas

vale² voucher

Etymology tree of vale²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin valeō

French valoir

Italian valere

Portuguese valer

Portuguese vale

Spanish valer

From the same root · vale²

English vail ← valeō

English valiant ← valeō

French vaillance ← valeō

Latin aequivaleō ← valeō

Latin praevaleō ← valeō

Latin valēns ← valeō

Latin valēscō ← valeō

Latin valētūdō ← valeō

Latin validus ← valeō

Latin valor ← valeō

Spanish valor ← valeō

French vaillant ← valoir

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /ˈva.li/^[1]
• Portugal: /ˈva.lɨ/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /ˈba.lɨ/^[1]

Forms

vale m (plural vales)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the voucher is from Portuguese valer (“to be worth”): the third-person singular of the present indicative, “it is worth”, became a noun.^{[4][1][18][14]} Cunha places it in the family of the verb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates it to 1856 from Morais's dictionary, the first to list it, in the sense of a written note, without legal form, given as security for a loan or an advance.^[4] Vieira (1871–1874) has it for a note of debt given when the State takes goods for its needs, and for a money order paid at the post office.^[19]

Semantic evolution

Aulete has the postal order as the main sense, and Silva Bastos (1912) a note standing for money, a kind of bill of exchange.^[11][20] In the 20th century it became a voucher of fixed value issued by employers for transport and meals, and a credit note issued by shops.^[4] In Rio Grande do Sul ranchers paid their hands with vales to be spent at the store.^[15] Informally it is also the advance on wages itself.^[4][13]

Timeline

• 1856 – first dictionary record, in Morais.^[4]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira lists the note of debt and the postal order.^[19]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos defines it as a note standing for money.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. A written note without legal formality acknowledging a loan or an advance, or a withdrawal of cash.^[4][14]
2. (informal) An advance on wages: Pediu um vale ao patrão.^[4][13]
3. A voucher of fixed value given by employers for transport or meals, or by shops as credit.^[4][1]
4. A postal money order.^[14][13]

Word family

• vale-refeição
• vale-transporte