valence

Definitions

• (chemistry) An extract; a preparation, now especially one effective against a certain number of strains of a pathogen.
• (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.
• (chemistry) The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
• (linguistics) The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero (for the likes of "It rains") to three (for the likes of "He gives her a flower") or, less commonly, four.
• (especially) A one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state, that can usually be positive or negative.
• (sociology) Value.