I. ˈval(ˌ)yü, -_yə ( this pronunc before a vowel or pause is especially South ); often -_yəw+V; dial -lē or -li noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin valuta, from feminine of (assumed) Vulgar Latin valutus, past participle of Latin valēre to be worth — more at wield
1.
a. : the amount of a commodity, service, or medium of exchange that is the equivalent of something else : a fair return in goods, services, or money
the method of merchandising is to give the buyer good value at the right price — Wall Street Journal
I take his wages because I give good value for them — John Buchan
— often used in plural
priced at levels that reflect … policy of passing on to the customer the ever greater values resulting from technological progress — A.P.Sloan & H.H.Curtice
the store advertises great values at large savings
b. : valuable consideration
for value received
a holder or purchaser for value
2. : the monetary worth of something : marketable price usually in terms of a medium of exchange
his holdings increase in value
has the same value as the United States dollar — S.G.Inman
fool's gold is of practically no value
having a value of $5
3.
a. : relative worth, utility, or importance : degree of excellence : status in a scale of preferences
we know the value of a thing by the way it is sought, shunned, protected — H.N.Wieman
he knew the precise value of men and could marshal them — A.H.Meneely
learned the value of rest in the treatment of … tuberculosis — J.F.Fulton
the physicist has become a military asset of such value — I.I.Rabi
only a few … have anything of value to say — Edward Clodd
b. : a liking or regard for a person or thing
she had a value for rank and consequence — Jane Austen
a sad man who, for all his gaiety … had little value for life — Joyce Cary
4.
a. : a particular quantitative determination in mathematics
as the value of a increases, b decreases
the values of the angles vary proportionately
b. : the amount or extent of a specified measurement of time, space, or quantity
values of the age of the earth determined by the geologists — S.F.Mason
gives a fairly exact value of the constant temperature deeper down — Valter Schytt
pressure maintained at sea level values — H.G.Armstrong
5. : the relative length or duration of a musical tone or note
a quarter note has the value of two eighth notes
6. : the relative rank, importance, or numerical worth of a playing card, chessman, or other game component
the ace is often given a different value in different forms of rummy
7.
a. : lightness I 2
b. : value in the Munsell system — used in psychophysics; see the Color Charts explanation at color
c. : the relation of one part or detail in a picture to another with respect to lightness and darkness
8. : something (as a principle, quality, or entity) intrinsically valuable or desirable
may call food a value for the animal — Samuel Alexander
the devotee of … education and religion was keenly aware of value — A.H.Johnson
— often used in plural
defending the values of the classical … tradition — Current Biography
all values are only relative to a given culture — Erich Fromm
the business world with its regulated system of values — D.H.Lawrence
for the sensate mentality … human values are hedonistic and utilitarian — David Bidney
9. : the precious metals contained in rock, gravel, or earth — usually used in plural
the vein carries good values
values were discovered here in 1864 and a 10-stamp mill was soon at work — American Guide Series: Nevada
10. : denomination 4
a new airmail value is to be issued here soon — National Stamp News
11. : the distinctive character or quality of a speech sound
an alphabet made up of letters with phonetic values — Charlton Laird
in … Elhua the h really has the value of ch in the Scottish word loch — T.H.Gaster
12. : a term or an expression in logic that may replace a variable in a propositional function so that the resultant is a true or false statement
man is a value for x in the function x is rational
Synonyms:
worth: value and worth are frequently differentiated more often by the demands of idiom than by differences in meaning or connotation. value may sometimes suggest an evaluation made from an individual or specific point of view or in an individual or special situation
have to comprehend the artist's own values — Havelock Ellis
the ability of an ordinary Englishman to measure up to the times even though he must change his values — J.D.Hart
worth may suggest more lasting genuine merit resting on deeper, intrinsic, and enduring qualities
those qualities of the human personality which have an abiding worth under the tests of our civilization — Henry Suzzallo
having gained a more judicious knowledge of the worth and dignity of individual man — William Wordsworth
this book on navigation has chapters of varying worth
•
- at value
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1.
a. : to estimate or assign the monetary worth of : appraise
gave me a piece of his amethyst and I planned to have it properly valued — Edwin Corle
merchandise inventories will be valued at the end of the year
— often used with at
values his holdings at $3,000,000
the institution values its plant and endowment at several million
b. : to rate or scale in usefulness, importance, or general worth : evaluate
impressions which she had long since arranged and valued in her mind — Mary Deasy
search and value every element in the conflict before him — Thomas De Quincey
2. : to consider or rate highly : prize , esteem
from his parents … he learned to value education — Current Biography
responded to and valued pleasant friendships — Ruth P. Randall
valued himself on his tolerance of heresy in great thinkers — Robert Frost
3. archaic : to show concern for : heed
Synonyms: see appreciate , estimate