Middle English Dictionary Entry
valence n.(1)
Entry Info
| Forms | valence n.(1) |
| Etymology | OF (15th cent.) valence cloth which covers a helmet (FEW 14.129b fn.), ult. from the name of one of two towns, either Valence, on the Rhone near Lyon, or Valenciennes, on the Escaut in northern France; for the latter possibility, cp. place name in 1st quot. below & F (17th cent.) valence lace of Valenciennes. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. valenciens n.
1.
A thin, fine cloth associated with Valence or Valenciennes, perh. openwork.
Associated quotations
- [ (1440) Capgr.St.Norb.(Hnt HM 55)540 : Fro þe cite of Valens onto a town beside Is he now goo, Gemlacum [Gembloux, in Belgium] þei it calle. ]
- c1430(c1380) Chaucer PF (Benson-Robinson)272 : Naked from the brest unto the hed Men myghte hire sen…The remenaunt was wel kevered to my pay, Ryght with a subtyl coverchef of Valence; Ther was no thikkere cloth of no defense.
- c1475(a1449) Lydg.Horns (LdMisc 683)21 : Clad al in flours…He sauh Nature…Vpon hir hed a kerche[f] of Valence, Noon other richesse of counterfet array.