valence

  1. Noun.  (chemistry, obsolete) An extract; a preparation.
  2. Noun.  (chemistry) The combining capacity of an atom, radical or functional group determined by the number of electrons that it will lose, gain, or share when it combines with other atoms etc.
  3. Noun.  (chemistry) The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
  4. Noun.  (linguistics) The number of arguments that a verb can have, including the subject of the verb in the counting, ranging from zero (for the likes of "It rains") to three (for the likes of "He gives her a flower").
  5. Noun.  (psychology) A one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state, that can usually be positive or negative.
  6. Noun.  (alternative spelling of, valance) .

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.