Etymology

quantivalence

quant·i·val·ence
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Today it means: Synonym of valence (“the combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical determined by the number of atoms of hydrogen with which it will unite, or the number of electrons that it will gain, lose, or share when it combines with other atoms, etc.”). Full definition →

Latin quantus ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂welh₁-“to rule; powerful, strong”
  2. Latin · derived fromvalentia“bodily strength; health; vigour”
  3. Latin · derived fromquantus“how much”
  4. English todayquantivalence

From Latin quantus (“how much”) + English -i- (interfix inserted between morphemes of Latin origin for ease of pronunciation) + Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)) + -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the condition or state of’), coined by F. O. Ward who communicated it to the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818–1892), leading him to coin the German word Quantivalenz from which valence is derived.

Words from the same roots

Latinquantus all →

quantumvalencequantic

Latinvalentia all →

valenciavalencevalency

Proto-Indo-European*h₂welh₁- all →

valuevalidwildVladimirvaliantcuckoldvalencevalencyvaledictory

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.