c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 272 The remenaunt was wel keuerede to myn pay Rygh[t] with a subtyl couercheif of valence; Ther nas no thikkere cloth of no defense.

c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 47 Upon hir hed a kerche of Valence, Noon other richesse of counterfet array.

c1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 69 Þis medicyne is called tapsi ualencia..; in þe brissing..putte in litel bi litel of oile of rose, or violet, or camamille, þat þe valence may competently imbibe it.

c1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 98 Þis medyc[in]e is called Valence of scabious for þe valow of it.

c1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 98 Valence of wormode is þus made.

a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 172 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) For his valence, he was called Cœur de Lyon, the Lyons heart.

1884 American 8 300 To what extent is the Hypothesis of ‘Valence’ or ‘Atomicity’ of Value in explaining Chemical Reactions.

1902 Fortn. Rev. June 1018 Meanwhile, it is clear that the ‘valence’, the number of electrical charges [in poisons], plays an important part.

1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. iv. 102 In the transition series a great number of valences are observed.

1972 F. L. Harding in L. D. Pye et al. Introd. Glass Sci. 422 Long term exposure to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight can result in another type of coloring phenomenon known as solarization. If certain multivalent ions..are present in the glass, their valence can be changed by ionizing radiation.

1917 C. R. Payne tr. O. Pfister Psychoanalytic Method xi. 262 They are all representations of the cottage itself and more exactly the embodiment of inhibited endeavours of high valence, the so-called libido-symbols.

1935 D. K. Adams & K. E. Zener tr. K. Lewin Dynamic Theory of Personality ii. 51 A certain object or event..is experienced as an attraction (or repulsion)... We shall say of such objects that they possess a ‘valence’.

1935 D. K. Adams & K. E. Zener tr. K. Lewin Dynamic Theory of Personality iii. 81 The positive valences (+), those effecting approach; and the negative (−), or those producing withdrawal or retreat.

1952 W. J. H. Sprott Social Psychol. ii. 30 The piece of chocolate is said to have ‘positive valence’ for the child and exercises an attractive force.

1952 W. J. H. Sprott Social Psychol. ii. 30 A threat of punishment, and a ‘negative valence’ is added which alters the dynamic character of the ‘field’.

1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene in Great Brit. vi. 79 His positive valences are toward the use of drugs.

1976 S. Larsen Shaman's Doorway iii. 132 Its [sc. the religious archetype's] powerful valence is attracted to any life activity or belief which assumes a central role for an individual.

1956 L. P. Hunter Handbk. Semiconductor Electronics ii. 7 At an intermediate temperature, therefore, the donor levels will be completely ionized..while the valence band remains practically filled.

1982 J. E. Uffenbeck Introd. Electronics i. 7 We can think of the valence band as containing all electrons still held by their parent atoms, while the conduction band contains all free electrons.

1913 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 35 1443 This view leads to the grouping of substances into two general classes, according as the valence bonds are chiefly polar or non-polar in nature.

1931 Physical Rev. 37 481 This is a homopolar valence bond, and the two electrons forming such a bond are inactive in forming further bonds, just as if they were in closed shells within a single atom.

1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. iii. 67 The problem will be introduced by a summary of the two important wave-mechanical approximation methods, the L.C.A.O. (linear combination of atomic orbitals) molecular-orbital method and the valence-bond method.

1978 P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. xv. 493 Just as in m.o. theory, the strength of the bond according to valence-bond theory can be traced in large part to the effects of the accumulation of electron density in the bonding region between the two nuclei.

1923 Kramers & Holst Atom & Bohr Theory of its Structure vii. 206 The last group [of electrons] is naturally of a very different nature from the first; they are ‘valence electrons’.

1974 D. M. Adams Inorg. Solids i. 3 Three factors were considered as fundamental in alloy structures: (a) size of the atoms; (b) their relative electronegativities; (c) the valence-electron concentration.

1923 G. N. Lewis Valence iv. 57 The valence shell of a free (uncombined) atom never contains more than eight electrons.

1972 R. A. Jackson Mechanism v. 99 Boron compounds are unusual (in relation to most organic compounds) in having an empty valence-shell orbital.