English▸ noun
(plural valencies)
Chemistry mainly British English the combining power of an element, especially as measured by the number of hydrogen atoms it can displace or combine with. Compare with valence:carbon always has a valency of 4.
▪ Linguistics the number of grammatical elements with which a particular word, especially a verb, combines in a sentence:
‘give’ has a valency of three in ‘I (1) gave it (2) to him (3)’.
– ORIGIN early 17th century: from late Latin valentia ‘power, competence’, from valere ‘be well or strong’.