Value and Valor

Value and Valor Value and Valor Value and Valor By Mark Nichol Words pertaining to worth and worthiness that are based on the syllable val or a similar letter combination are related. This post lists and defines the words in this group. The Latin verb valere, meaning â€Å"be strong† or â€Å"be well,† was extended in meaning to refer to worth, in both practical and aesthetic terms. Valor, which originally meant â€Å"courage,† â€Å"merit,† or â€Å"virtue† but now generally retains only the first sense, is derived from the Latin word. Valiance, a synonym for valor, is rare, but the adjectival form, valiant, meaning â€Å"brave,† is more common. Valid, meanwhile, originated in legal contexts to refer to what is legally binding, but by extension, it came to mean â€Å"supported by authority or facts.† (The noun form is validity.) Value, meaning â€Å"price† or â€Å"degree of esteem or usefulness,† is also a verb, and another noun form, valuation, pertains to the act or process of appraising financial worth, as well as judgment of character or worth or measure of market value. Evaluation, however, refers more broadly to measure of something’s financial value or of condition or significance; more recently, it has also come to pertain to a review of job performance. Less obviously related words include the verb avail, meaning â€Å"benefit† or â€Å"help,† or â€Å"gain† or â€Å"serve.† It also functions as a noun in such expressions as â€Å"to little avail† or â€Å"to no avail,† meaning â€Å"help† or use†; the adjectival form, available, means â€Å"accessible,† â€Å"present,† or â€Å"ready,† or â€Å"qualified† or â€Å"willing.† (The noun form is availability.) Others include prevail, meaning â€Å"be successful,† and its adjectival form, prevalent, which means â€Å"common† or â€Å"dominant.† Countervail, meanwhile, means â€Å"compensate† or â€Å"counteract.† Valence, a term for the amount of power of an atom or a unit of such strength, or for capacity to perform or degree of attractiveness, is generally confined to medical and scientific contexts, but it is the basis of ambivalence and equivalence, both of which have adjectival forms in which a t replaces the last two letters. The former word was coined by a psychologist on the model of the latter term to refer to conflicted feelings but soon took on a broader meaning; equivalence itself means â€Å"correspondence of characteristics.† Valedictorian and valetudinarian, though both derived from valere, are not to be confused. The former word describes the person who provides the valediction, a farewell speech at an event such as a graduation ceremony. (The first element stems from the Latin word for â€Å"farewell,† which literally means â€Å"be well† or â€Å"be strong.†) Valetudinarian, meanwhile, describes a hypochondriac or a sickly or weak person; the word also functions as an adjective, though valetudinary is also used. Meanwhile, the verb convalesce (the adjectival and noun forms are convalescent and convalescence) is antithetical to both senses of valetudinarian; it means â€Å"become healthier or stronger.† The feminine French name Valerie, and its variously spelled masculine Slavic equivalents, are cognate with valere. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business Letter50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)25 Idioms About Bread and Dessert