Friday, April 25, 2014

A-to-Z Challenge: Value

The end is getting close!



Value. Looks like we’re back down to two syllables.

Value first showed up in the early fourteenth century, coming from the Old French value, which has the same meaning. That value is a noun version of another word, valoir, which comes from the classical Latin valere, a word for one who is strong and of value. That word can be traced back to the Proto Indo European wal-, which means “be strong”.

Okay, I may have oversold it when I said that these would all be interesting. But you probably figured that out already.

Sources
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

11 comments:

  1. I love looking at the similarities and differences between these modern and old words.

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  2. i love learning so much with this challenge. ubiquitous is such an awesome word - full of value!
    and learning where words come from helps define other words, i used to teach an SAT prep class and showed them that =)

    happy a to z-ing! almost done!

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  3. Of value or of valor. Cool. I love knowing the history behind words, how they were developed or evolved.

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  4. Wal-mart is strong on value, although it sucks to shop there.

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  5. Not oversold at all. These posts are quite "value"able" :)

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  6. I wonder if there's a connection to the Tolkien word "valar"...

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  7. I find these fascinating. I'm always curious where the words come from. The fact that value had the same spelling as the Old French is an interesting twist.

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  8. I'm assuming the word valor comes from some of the same roots.

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  9. That's OK. Sometimes it's nice to have etymology that just makes sense :)

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  10. I'm realizing, in reading these, just how many "V" words relate to having strong morals. Virtue, values, etc.!

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  11. Another word from the French. Naturally.

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Please validate me.