entry
value
/ˈvæl.juː/worth; importance; estimated price
From Latin val (be strong).
from Proto-Italic *walēō
from Latin valere "be strong, be well; be of value, be worth" (from PIE root *wal- "to be strong"). It is attested by...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Proto-Italic *walēō
from Latin valere "be strong, be well; be of value, be worth" (from PIE root *wal- "to be strong"). It is attested by...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourcefrom Old French value "worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation" (13c.), noun use of fem. past participle of...
+1 more sourceA word that now sits on spreadsheets and in speeches once meant something close to sheer sturdiness. In Latin, valēre could mean “be strong,” but also “be worth,” which is a very Roman way of saying the two are secretly the same. Old French picked it up as value, and English borrowed it around 1300, first for price and worth, then for esteem, then for those maddening modern phrases about “values.” That little family is crowded with cousins: valor, valiant, prevail, even convalesce, all orbiting the same old idea of strength. So when you say something has value, you are really saying it has enough force to matter — a coin, a painting, a promise, or a principle that refuses to collapse.
The Story
A word that now sits on spreadsheets and in speeches once meant something close to sheer sturdiness. In Latin, valēre could mean “be strong,” but also “be worth,” which is a very Roman way of saying the two are secretly the same. Old French picked it up as value, and English borrowed it around 1300, first for price and worth, then for esteem, then for those maddening modern phrases about “values.” That little family is crowded with cousins: valor, valiant, prevail, even convalesce, all orbiting the same old idea of strength. So when you say something has value, you are really saying it has enough force to matter — a coin, a painting, a promise, or a principle that refuses to collapse.
Kin & Kindred
From 'val'·be strong, be worth
Derived Terms
English words from this root