noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/kwɒnˈtɪvəl(ə)ns/
General-American:/kwɑnˈtɪvələns/
General-American:/kwɑnˈtɪvləns/
1
noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of valence (“the combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical determined by the number of atoms of hydrogen with which it will unite, or the number of electrons that it will gain, lose, or share when it combines with other atoms, etc.”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: valence
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Equivalence measured quantitatively.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
Qualifier: generally
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Latin quantus (“how much”) + English -i- (interfix inserted between morphemes of Latin origin for ease of pronunciation) + Latin valentia (“bodily strength; health; vigour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2welh1- (“to rule; powerful, strong”)) + -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the condition or state of’), 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 from which valence is derived.
Across languages
Translations
2 source translations are retained for this English entry.
