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Origin and history of valve

valve(n.)

late 14c., "one of the halves of a folding door," from Latin valva (plural valvae) "section of a folding or revolving door," literally "that which turns," related to volvere "to roll" (from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve").

The sense was extended by 1610s to "membranous fold regulating flow of bodily fluids;" by 1650s to "mechanical device that works like an anatomical valve;" and by 1660s in zoology to "halves of a hinged shell." Related: Valved.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to valve

bivalve(adj.)

1660s in reference to mollusks with hinged double shells; 1670s in reference to shutters or doors having two folding parts; from bi- + valve. The noun is attested by 1680s in the mollusk sense.

univalve

in reference to mollusks and shells consisting of a single piece, 1660s (noun and adjective), from uni- + valve. Contrasted to bivalve.

*wel-(3)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, revolve," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects.

It might form all or part of: archivolt; circumvolve; convoluted; convolution; devolve; elytra; evolution; evolve; Helicon; helicopter; helix; helminth; lorimer; ileus; involve; revolt; revolution; revolve; valve; vault (v.1) "jump or leap over;" vault (n.1) "arched roof or ceiling;" volte-face; voluble; volume; voluminous; volute; volvox; volvulus; vulva; wale; walk; wallet; wallow; waltz; well (v.) "to spring, rise, gush;" welter; whelk; willow.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit valate "turns round," ulvam "womb, vulva;" Lithuanian valtis "twine, net," vilnis "wave," apvalus "round;" Old Church Slavonic valiti "roll, welter," vlŭna "wave;" Greek eluein "to roll round, wind, enwrap," eilein "twist, turn, squeeze; revolve, rotate," helix "spiral object;" Latin volvere "to turn, twist;" Gothic walwjan "to roll;" Old English wealwian "roll," weoloc "whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk;" Old High German walzan "to roll, waltz;" Old Irish fulumain "rolling;" Welsh olwyn "wheel."

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    Trends of valve

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

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    control
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    earth
    Old English eorþe "ground, soil, dirt, dry land; country, district," also used (along with middangeard) for "the (material) world, the abode of man" (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from Proto-Germanic *ertho (source also of Old Frisian erthe "earth," Old Saxon erth
    heart
    Old English heorte "heart (hollow muscular organ that circulates blood); breast, soul, spirit, will, desire; courage; mind, intellect," from Proto-Germanic *hertan- (source also of Old Saxon herta, Old Frisian herte, Old Norse hjarta, Dutch hart, Old High German herza, German Her
    structure
    mid-15c.; the sense might be "building materials" or "action or process of building or construction," either way it is obsolete. From 1610s as "that which is built, an edifice," especially if large or imposing. It is from Latin structura "a fitting together, adjustment; a buildin
    controller
    late 14c., "official in charge of accounts in a king's household," from Anglo-French contrerolleour (late 13c.), Old French contrerelleor (Modern French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrarotulator, agent noun from *contra-rotulare (see control (v.)). Broader sense of "office
    pump
    "one of several kinds of apparatus for forcing liquid or air," early 15c., pumpe, which is probably from Middle Dutch pompe "water conduit, pipe," or Middle Low German pumpe "pump" (Modern German Pumpe), both from some North Sea sailors' word, possibly imitative of the sound of t
    choke
    c. 1300, transitive, "to stop the breath by preventing air from entering the windpipe;" late 14c., "to make to suffocate, deprive of the power of drawing breath," of persons as well as swallowed objects; a shortening of acheken (c. 1200), from Old English aceocian "to choke, suff
    escape
    c. 1300, transitive and intransitive, "free oneself from confinement; extricate oneself from trouble; get away safely by flight (from battle, an enemy, etc.)," from Old North French escaper, Old French eschaper (12c., Modern French échapper), from Vulgar Latin *excappare, literal

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