— bivalence /buy vay"leuhns, biv"euh leuhns/ , bivalency , n.
/buy vay"leuhnt, biv"euh-/ , adj.
1. Chem.
a. having a valence of two.
b. having two valences, as aluminum with valences of two and three.
2. Genetics. pertaining to associations of two homologous chromosomes.
n.
3. Genetics. a pair of bivalent chromosomes, esp. when pairing during meiosis.
[ 1865-70; BI- 1 + -VALENT ]