Meanings
valence1
nounvalence (countable and uncountable, plural valences)
plural valences · alternative valency
- countableuncountablechemistryThe 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.First known use 1884
Synonyms: atomicity, quantivalence, quantivalency, valency
- uncountablehuman sciencesThe value which a person places on something.
- countableuncountablealgebraic geometryFor a correspondence T on a curve: a number k such that the divisors T(P)+kP are all linearly equivalent.
valence2
Valence3
proper noun
- A village and commune in the department of Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, southwestern France.
- A town and commune in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitania region, southern France.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe 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.
nounThe number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
noun(biology) a relative capacity to unite or react or interact as with antigens or a biological substrate
Similar
Broader
noun(chemistry) a property of atoms or radicals; their combining power given in terms of the number of hydrogen atoms (or the equivalent)
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
valence · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂welh₁-“to rule; powerful, strong”
- Latinvalentia“bodily strength; health; vigour”
- Latinquantus“how much”
- GermanValenz
- Englishvalence
Etymology 1, noun sense 1.1 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“one-dimensional value assigned by a person to an object, situation, or state”) are borrowed from German Valenz + English -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the condition or state of’). Valenz is a clipping of Quantivalenz (“(archaic) valence in chemistry”), from English quantivalence, from Latin quantus (“how much”) + English -i- (interfix inserted between morphemes of Latin origin for ease of pronunciation) + Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) (whence Late Middle English valence (“medicinal preparation made from plants”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)). Quantivalence was 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. Doublet of value. Etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) was formed by analogy to the use of the word in chemistry: see above.
More words from German, Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Valence · proper noun
- FrenchValence
- EnglishValence
Borrowed from French Valence. Doublet of Valencia.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans valensie
- valensiechemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Arabic تكافؤ, تَعَلُّق
- تكافؤ (takāfuʔ)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- تَعَلُّق (taʕalluq)number of arguments that a verb can have
- تكافؤ (takāfuʔ)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- فالانس (fālāns)city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Basque balentzia
- balentziachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Bengali যোজনী
- যোজনী (jōjoni)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Bulgarian валентност, валентност
- валентност (valentnost)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- валентност (valentnost)number of binding sites of a molecule
- валентност (valentnost)number of arguments that a verb can have
- валентност (valentnost)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Catalan valència, valència
- valènciachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valèncianumber of arguments that a verb can have
- Valençacity in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Chinese Mandarin 化合價 /化合价, 化合價 /化合价
- 化合價 /化合价 (huàhéjià)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- 化合價 /化合价 (huàhéjià)number of binding sites of a molecule
- 价 (jiè)number of binding sites of a molecule
- 原子价 (yuánzǐjià)number of binding sites of a molecule
- 配價 /配价 (pèijià)number of arguments that a verb can have
Czech valence, valence
- valencechemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valencenumber of binding sites of a molecule
- mocenstvínumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valencenumber of arguments that a verb can have
Dutch valentie, valentie
- valentiechemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valentienumber of arguments that a verb can have
Esperanto valento, valento
- valentochemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valentonumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valentonumber of arguments that a verb can have
Estonian valents, valents
- valentschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valentsnumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valentspsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Finnish valenssi, valenssi
- valenssichemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valenssinumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valenssinumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valenssipsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- tunnearvopsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
French valence, valence
- valencechemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valencenumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valencenumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valencepsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- Valencecity in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
German Valenz, Wertigkeit
- Valenzchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- Wertigkeitchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- Valenznumber of binding sites of a molecule
- Valenznumber of arguments that a verb can have
- Verbvalenznumber of arguments that a verb can have
- Valenzpsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- Wertigkeitpsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- Valenzsociology: value which a person places on something
- Wertsociology: value which a person places on something
- Wertigkeitsociology: value which a person places on something
Greek σθένος, σθένος
- σθένος (sthénos)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- σθένος (sthénos)number of arguments that a verb can have
Hebrew עֶרְכִּיוּת
- עֶרְכִּיוּת (erkiyūt)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Hindi संयोजकता
- संयोजकता (sãyojaktā)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Hungarian vegyérték
- vegyértékchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Icelandic eingildi
- eingildichemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Indonesian valensi
- valensichemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Irish fiús
- fiúschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Italian valenza, valenza
- valenzachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valenzanumber of arguments that a verb can have
Japanese 原子価, 感情価
- 原子価 (genshika)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- 感情価 (kanjōka)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- ヴァランス (Varansu)city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Korean 원자가, 감정가
- 원자가 (wonjaga)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- 감정가 (gamjeongga)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Latin valentia
- valentianumber of arguments that a verb can have
Latvian valence, vērtība
- valencechemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- vērtībachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- vērtībapsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Lithuanian valentingumas
- valentingumaschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Norwegian Bokmål valens, valens
- valenschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valensnumber of arguments that a verb can have
Persian ظرفیت شیمیایی, تعلق
- ظرفیت شیمیاییchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- تعلق (ta'alloq)number of arguments that a verb can have
Polish wartościowość, wartościowość
- wartościowośćchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- wartościowośćnumber of binding sites of a molecule
- walencjanumber of arguments that a verb can have
- walencjapsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- walencjasociology: value which a person places on something
- Valencecity in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Portuguese valência, valência
- valênciachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valêncianumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valêncianumber of arguments that a verb can have
Punjabi ਸੰਯੋਜਕਤਾ
- ਸੰਯੋਜਕਤਾ (sãyojkatā)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Romanian valență, valență
- valențăchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valențănumber of binding sites of a molecule
- valențănumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valențăsociology: value which a person places on something
Russian вале́нтность, вале́нтность
- вале́нтность (valéntnostʹ)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- вале́нтность (valéntnostʹ)number of binding sites of a molecule
- вале́нтность (valéntnostʹ)number of arguments that a verb can have
- вале́нтность (valéntnostʹ)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
- Вала́нс (Valáns)city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Spanish valencia, diátesis
- valenciachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- diátesisnumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valenciapsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Swahili valensi
- valensichemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Swedish valens, valens
- valenschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- valensnumber of arguments that a verb can have
- valenspsychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Tagalog balensiya, kalwing
- balensiyachemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- kalwingnumber of binding sites of a molecule
Tamil இணைதிறன்
- இணைதிறன் (iṇaitiṟaṉ)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Thai เวเลนซ์
- เวเลนซ์chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Turkish değerlik
- değerlikchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Ukrainian вале́нтність, вале́нтність
- вале́нтність (valéntnistʹ)chemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- вале́нтність (valéntnistʹ)number of binding sites of a molecule
- вале́нтність (valéntnistʹ)number of arguments that a verb can have
- валéнтність (valéntnistʹ)psychology: one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state
Urdu ظرف
- ظرفchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Vietnamese hóa trị, diễn trị
- hóa trịchemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
- diễn trịnumber of arguments that a verb can have
- kết trịnumber of arguments that a verb can have
Welsh falens
- falenschemistry: combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with valence
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
valence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valence
MLA
“valence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “valence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valence.
Source: valence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.