valency — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Alternative form of valence (“the combining capacity of an atom, functional group, or radical determined by the number of atoms of hydrogen with which it will unite, or the number of electrons that it will gain, lose, or share when it combines with other atoms, etc.”). The capacity of something to combine with other things, as for example the capability of a vaccine as measured by the number of pathogen serotypes that it can counteract.

   Usage

   • Britain
   • broadly
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   vaccine valency

   Some etymons appear to have greater valency than others when it comes to the formation of portmanteau words.

   More examples (1)

   The rationale behind GSK's buy is that bigger is better, in terms of vaccine valency. It has been shown that including more disease-causing serotypes decreases the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease. To this end, Pfizer and Merck last year got the nod for 20-valent and 15-valent vaccines respectively. Affinivax's AFX3772, meanwhile, is a 24-valent jab.

2. The number of edges connected to a vertex in a graph.

   Usage

   • Britain
   • Countable

   Synonyms

   degree

3. Importance, significance.

   Usage

   • Britain
   • Uncountable

Noun

1. the phenomenon of forming chemical bonds

   Broader terms

   chemical phenomenon

2. (biology) a relative capacity to unite or react or interact as with antigens or a biological substrate

   Synonyms

   valence

   Broader terms

   powerpowerfulness

3. (chemistry) a property of atoms or radicals; their combining power given in terms of the number of hydrogen atoms (or the equivalent)

   Synonyms

   valence

   Broader terms

   powerpowerfulness