Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a certain valence or valency.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective having valence

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (chemistry) having valence; usually used in combination

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

back-formation from valence

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Examples

  • When in doubt I'll stick with the old French adage: deux précautions valent mieux qu'une: better to be safe than sorry.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • Plusiers sont vieillies, mais Merriam-Webster, The American Heritage Dictionary, The Oxford English Dictionary (quand il (elle?) arrive) et même Wiktionary valent la peine.

    Unnatural ‘preternaturally’, naturally 2009

  • You might have to shop around for a good price, but "les chaises en valent certainement la peine" (= sure, the chairs are worthwhile).

    clandestin - French Word-A-Day 2010

  • Life is a complex and multi-valent experience, where nuance and thoughtfulness often get us nearer the truth than do bold assertions.

    Amateurism, the Internet and Literary Criticism: by Nigel Beale 2009

  • As one example, I brought up the phenomenon of serotype replacement, which can occur due to the use of what are called “multi-valent vaccines.”

    The Panda's Thumb: Medicine and Evolution Archives 2010

  • The significance in the futurity of a “we” who learn by asking, however, is of the utmost importance in beginning to understand the multi-valent temporalities of the collectivity in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature.

    Dissertation Fragments II: Horizons of History Mary Kate Hurley 2007

  • The significance in the futurity of a “we” who learn by asking, however, is of the utmost importance in beginning to understand the multi-valent temporalities of the collectivity in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature.

    Archive 2007-12-01 Mary Kate Hurley 2007

  • As one example, I brought up the phenomenon of serotype replacement, which can occur due to the use of what are called “multi-valent vaccines.”

    The Panda's Thumb: Tara Smith Archives 2009

  • Only if we also ban the phrase “highly valent marker of pseudism.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Supreme Court Skeptical of Business Method Patents 2009

  • Working in a poetic that is both multi-valent and articulately human, Degentesh creates a space that casually articulates an anger toward the casualness we use to describe the politically grave – a space that, to paraphrase Baudrillard once more, is more casual than casual.

    Ryan Fitzpatrick reads Katie Degentesh Lemon Hound 2008

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