valency

The story

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

From Late Latin valentia and Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Valentia is derived from valēns (“healthy, strong, vigorous”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); while valēns is the present active participle of valeō (“to be healthy, sound, or well; to be strong; to have influence or power, etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”). Sense 1 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and sense 3 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) are possibly from valence + -y.

Words from the same roots