Valley

How to spell valley

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce valley

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does valley mean?

1. nounA low area of land between hills or mountains, often with a river flowing through it.

Valley in a sentence

• The farmhouse sat in a green valley surrounded by steep hills.

• A narrow river wound through the bottom of the valley.

Where does valley come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Latin vallis, which simply meant a low stretch of land lying between hills or mountains. It passed into Old French as valee (modern French vallee), and English adopted it during the 1200s as a term for the ground at the foot of slopes, especially where a river runs. The same Latin root survives in words like 'vale', a more poetic synonym, and in place names across the English-speaking world. The spelling trap lies in the doubled 'l' followed by the soft '-ey' ending, since the word sounds as though it might end in '-ie' or '-y'; remembering its kinship with 'vale' helps fix the single vowel sound while the doubled 'l' marks the heavier French form.

How the word is built

• vall- (from Latin vallis: a low place between hills)
• -ey (diminutive/locative ending from Old French)