English
value
Value comes from Old French value, participle of valoir, from Latin valeō ‘to be strong, be worth’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*walēō‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvaleō‘to be strong, be worth’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400valoir
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400value
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500valew
- Englishearliest quotation 1590value
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*walēō‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvaleō‘to be strong, be worth’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400valoir
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400value
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500valew
- Englishearliest quotation 1590value
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto VI: “Who ſoone prepard to field, his ſword forth drew,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- ‘to be strong’
wild, wool, velvet, validation, invalid, validity, wield, flannel, validate, fluff, cuckold, ambivalent, ambivalence, velour, valence, convalescent, lanolin, convalescence, woll, valorous, 35 more
through Proto-Italic *walēō ‘to be strong’
equivalent, valid, avail, valuation, vale, vail, valour, 19 more
through Latin valēre ‘be strong, be worth’
through Old French value
Today it means
noun The quality that renders something desirable or valuable; worth.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- / value