Other forms: valences
Valence is how many bonds an atom can form. The valence of carbon, valence electrons, a valence of four.
Carbon has four, which is why it can build the long chains that life is made of, and that single fact explains most of organic chemistry. Britain also spells it valency, and in psychology valence means whether a feeling is positive or negative.
1nounvalenceHow many bonds an atom can form.
“Oxygen has a valence of two, so it bonds with two hydrogen atoms in water.”
valence is a property.
Borrowed from German, from Latin valentia, strength or capacity, from valere, to be strong.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂welh₁-
Latin
quantus — how much
German
Valenz
English, today
valence
Built from
Q171407 (“combining capacity of an atom”) and Q3113318 (“one-dimensional value assigned by a person to an object, situation, or state”) are borrowed from German Valenz + -ence. Valenz is a clipping of Quantivalenz (“(archaic) valence in chemistry”), from quantivalence, from Latin quantus (“how much”) + -i- + 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. a doublet of value. Q1412952 (“number of arguments a verb can have”) was formed by analogy to the use of the word in chemistry: see above.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA