valiant
/ˈvæliənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Possessing or showing courage or determination; brave, heroic.
adj
Characterized by or done with bravery or valour.
noun
A person who acts with valour, showing hero-like characteristics in the midst of danger.
Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "A valiant man’s look is more than a coward’s sword."
- "For by readyng of hiſtories fyrſte we know how longe time mightie empyres, great kyngedomes, famous common weales and citees haue floriſhed: how many yeres noble prynces, valiant capitaynes, and wyſe gouernours haue reigned: in what age they were, which was before other, and how farre diſtante in tyme one from an other."
- "And of the Gadites there ſeparated them ſelues ſome vnto Dauid into the holde of the wildernes, valiant men of warre, and mẽ of armes, & apt for battel, which colde handle ſpeare and ſhield, and their faces were like the faces of lyons, and were like the roes in the mountaines in ſwiftenes, […]"
- "Hee's truly Valiant, that can wiſely ſuffer / The worſt that man can breath, / And make his Wrongs, his Out-ſides, / To weare them like his Rayment, careleſſely, / And ne're preferre his iniuries to his heart, / To bring it into danger."
- "Then they read to him ſome of the worthy Acts that ſome of his Servants had done. As how they had ſubdued Kingdoms, wrought Righteouſneſs, obtained Promiſes, ſtopped the mouths of Lions, quenched the violence of Fire, eſcaped the edge of the Sword; out of weakneſs were made ſtrong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens. [Heb[rews] 11. 33, 34.]"
- "The Advantages of Time and Place are enough to make a Poultron Valiant. There's Nothing ſo Couragious as a Coward if you put him out of Danger."
Etymology
From Middle English vailaunt (“having or showing courage or valour, valiant; characterized by valour; powerful, strong; person of valour or strength; excellent, worthy; beneficial, useful; valuable; legally valid, binding”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vaillaunt, vaylant [and other forms], and Old French vailant, vaillant (“brave, valiant; having value, valuable”) [and other forms], from the present participle of valoir (“to have value; to be worth”), from Latin valēre (“to have value; to be worth; to be strong; to have influence or power”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“powerful, strong; to rule”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂welh₁-, vailaunt, vaillaunt, vailant, valeō