valence

Pronounced: VAY-luhns, noun

Notes: I was somewhat familiar with this word as an adjective, but was uncertain of what it meant as a noun

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Yesterday’s word

The word trenchant means

• keen; sharp
• vigorously effective and articulate (caustic, too)
• sharply perceptive; penetrating; clear-cut; distinct

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1200s or early 1300s

Background / Comments

I have run across the word “trencherman” in my reading; I thought that perhaps it had something of the first definition above. It looks like that word may trace back to the same root. In any event, our word comes from the Anglo-French verb trencher (to cut). It is thought that the word came from the Vulgar Latin word trinicare (to cut in three). One can describe a sword as “trenchant”, meaning that is cuts deeply; a “trenchant” remark is one that cuts deeply. The word “trench” (a long ditch cut into the ground) and “retrench” (to cut down; to pare away) come from the same source as our word.