Etymograph

English

valve

Valve comes from Latin valva ‘double door, valve’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvalva1‘double door, valve’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500valve1
  3. Englishtodayvalve1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English valve

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvalvaWiktionary, English valve‘double door, valve’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500valveWiktionary, English valve
  3. EnglishtodayvalveWiktionary, English valve

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, wind, round’

well, volume, walk, wall, revolution, evolution, involve, revolt, vault, vulgar, evolve, helix, waltz, convoluted, divulge, voluminous, gauche, vagrant, convolution, vulgate, iliac, wale, ilium, vulva, involution, voluble, valise, 75 more

through Latin valva ‘double door, valve’

valvular, 3 more

Today it means

noun A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a space, such as a pipe, manifold, or plenum.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “valve”. 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 / Latin valva / valve

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