Valiant

How to spell valiant

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce valiant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does valiant mean?

1. adjectiveShowing courage and determination, especially in the face of danger or difficulty.

Valiant in a sentence

• The firefighters made a valiant effort to reach the trapped family.

• Despite the budget cuts, the small team put up a valiant defence of the project.

Where does valiant come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the early 1300s from the Old French vaillant, which was the present participle of the verb valoir, meaning 'to be of worth' or 'to be strong'. That French verb descended directly from the Latin valere, which literally meant 'to be strong, healthy, or of value'. The same Latin root quietly powers a whole family of familiar English words, including 'value', 'valid', 'prevail', and 'convalescent', all of which circle around the idea of strength or worth. Over time the sense of valiant narrowed from general strength to the specific courage shown in battle or hardship, giving us the modern meaning of brave and determined. The spelling keeps the French -iant ending, and the unstressed second syllable (the schwa in val-yuhnt) is the small trap that occasionally trips writers into '-ient' instead of '-iant'.

How the word is built

• val- (from Latin valere: to be strong, to be worth)
• -iant (adjectival ending from the Old French present participle)