English
valid
Valid is borrowed from Middle French valide ‘sound’, from Latin validus ‘strong’, from valeō ‘to be strong’, from PIE *h₂welh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-1‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvaleō1‘to be strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvalidus1‘strong’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600valide1‘healthy, sound’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012valid1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English valid
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, -April, Race Finished: “Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-Wiktionary, English valid‘to be strong’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvaleōWiktionary, English valid‘to be strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvalidusWiktionary, English valid‘strong’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600valideWiktionary, English valid‘healthy, sound’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012validWiktionary, English valid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, -April, Race Finished: “Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with valid, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- ‘be strong’
- wild ← weilde ← wilde ← *wilþī ← *wilþijaz
- wool ← wolle ← wull ← *wullu ← *wullō
- velvet ← veluet ← *villutittus ← villus ← vellus
- wield ← welde ← *waldi ← *waldiz ← *waldaną
- fluff ← vluwe
- flannel ← flaunneol ← flaine ← *wlānos ← *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂
- cuckold ← cokolde ← cucuault ← cuculus
- valiant ← vailaunt ← vaillaunt ← valēre
- velour ← velours ← velor ← velos ← villus
- invalidate ← invalider ← invalide
- woll ← wollen ← wyllen ← *wullīnaz ← *wullō
- lanolin ← oleum
84 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
adj Well-grounded or justifiable, pertinent.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “valid”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- / valid