valour
(ˈvælə(r))
Forms: 4– valour (5–6 Sc. wa-), 5 valowr, 5–6 valoure (5 Sc. wa-, 5–6 vo-), 6 vallour (Sc. wa-), 5 vallouer, 6 valouer.
[a. OF. valour (valur; later and mod.F. valeur valeur), = Sp. and Pg. valor, It. valore:—late L. valōr-, valor valor, f. valēre to be strong, etc. See also valure.]
1. † a. Worth or importance due to personal qualities or to rank. Obs.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3402 (Kölbing), Kay, þe steward of valour. Ibid. 4179 A damisel of gret valour Was þo comen to king Arthour. c 1350 Libeaus Desc. 140 (Ritson), He was a noble dysour, Wyth ladyes of valour, A mery man of mouthe. c 1477 Caxton Jason 28 Ye that be so moche exellent and vertuous that alle my thoughtes ben torned..to you that ar of so moche hye valour. 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. iv. 198, I am very noughte, nothynge hauynge, ne nothynge of valour. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 185 He lukis as he wald luffit be, thocht he be litill of valour. 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 179 b, Whereby..your valour and worthinesse maie bee deciphered, and my insufficiencie not made vnknowne. |
† b. Worth or worthiness in respect of manly qualities or attributes.
Obs.| 13.. Coer de L. 4920 Yiff that he durste hym abyde, Undyr the forest off Arsour He wolde assaye hys valour. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 421 Ane erle þat wes a fare man, quham for beute & waloure þe emprice luffit paramoure. a 1400–50 Alexander 2493 How Alexander in his armes all-way encreses, In valour & in victori & vertues so noble. c 1450 Merlin xxii. 405, I shall lete hem well wite that I am not hidde, yef in me be so moche valoure. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. 2 Renownit, ryall, right reuerend and serene Lord, hie trywmphing in wirschip and valoure. |
c. The quality of mind which enables a person to face danger with boldness or firmness; courage or bravery,
esp. as shown in warfare or conflict; valiancy, prowess.
| 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 1 Lieuetenant generall... A degree..won..by meanes of his owne valour & seruice done to the king. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. i. ii. 39 Captaines stroue to haue their valours tride. 1604 Jas. I Counterbl. to Tobacco To Rdr., Our fortunate and oft prooued valour in warres abroad. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 54 He ow'd the Affront not to our Valours, but to his fears. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 686 In those dayes Might onely shall be admir'd, And Valour and Heroic Vertu call'd. 1715 Addison Freeholder No. 8, English Valour cannot be matched when it is animated by English Beauty. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. vi. (1782) I. 184 Valour, and the love of discipline, [became] the only qualifications for military employments. 1822 Scott Peveril vi, Real valour consists not in being insensible to danger, but in being prompt to confront and disarm it. 1857 G. Lawrence Guy Liv. ix, [She knew] that the better part of valour was advisable. 1878 Morley Carlyle 191 The same principle which revealed the valour and godliness of Puritanism. |
| personif. 1692 Prior An Ode i, Nor to melt at Beauties Tears, nor follow Valour's Sword. |
d. Used as a personal name or (with possessives) as a quasi-title; also, a person of courage.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 176 And at this sport Sir Valour dies; cries, O enough Patroclus. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xl, An your valour be so dull, you will please to learn [etc.]. 1839 Lytton Richelieu i. i, I,..Leading young valours..reckless as myself, Seized on the town of Faviaux. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxvi, But the stern-gallery? How..came your valour thither? |
e. Comb., as
valour-breathing,
valour-loving, etc.
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Law 13 Rock-batt'ring Bumbards, Valour-murdering Guns. 1598 Ibid. ii. i. Furies 35 The snares of vertue, valour-softning Hyrens. 1755 Praises of Isis 150 Warrior steeds, and valour-breathing knights. 1848 Buckley Iliad 279 He sat in the tent of valour-loving Eurypylus. 1851 H. Melville Whale xxv. I. 183 Immaculate manliness..bleeds with keenest anguish at the undraped spectacle of a valour-ruined man. |
† 2. Value or worth in material or other respects;
= value n. 6.
a. In the
phr. of (..) valour.
Obs.| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3265 (Kölbing), A launce he tok of gret valour. Ibid. 6353 His stede he smot of gret valour. c 1400 T. Chestre Launfal 984 Kyng Artour gan her fayre grete, And sche hym agayn, with wordes swete, That were of greet valour. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. lxxiv. 191 (Wemyss), In all þat land wes nane Temple standand of valoure. c 1475 Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 511 That parliamente of kynge Ricardus was made voyde & as of noo valoure. 1526 Tindale Romans iii. 23 The prayse that is off valoure before God. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 9 b, These hys powers,..of what valoure they be, and to what end we ought to wey them. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature ix. 69 Their Viands are of no valour, no valew without these. 1642 R. Carpenter Experience ii. viii. 196 If we compare his works being of infinite valour with our works. |
† b. In other constructions.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 35 Not discordenge in eny thynge, neiþer in valoure of wordes, neither in ordre. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) ii. xvii. 126 The lyfe contemplatyf excedeth in valoure and in worthynes the lyfe actyf. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 559 In peice and rest..Ane small thing growis to ane greit valour. 1565 Harding Answ. M. Ivelles Chalenge 220 This is the doctrine of the churche, touching the valour of the Masse. 1616 A. Champney Voc. Bps. 307 For the effectuall applying of the merite, valour, and effect thereof vnto us. |
† 3. The amount (in money, etc.) or sum that a thing is worth;
= value n. 2.
Obs.| c 1350 Libeaus Desc. 1039 (K.), He haþ me sent þe valour Of faire fiȝtes four, Seþe he ferst began. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3000 Not for the valour of al this tovn Wold I lenght thi life soo. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 135 To restore agayne the thing or the valour. 1538 in Marsden Sel. Pleas Crt. Adm. (Selden Soc.) II. 67 Our goodes..to be solld..and of the monye that shall cum of the valour of those goodes [etc.]. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. (Marsh) 56 b, A verye beautifull ringe of great price and estimation, which for the valour and beautie he was very desirous perpetually to leave unto his successours. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 97 He sall pay to his parents, the valour of his marriage. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Valour, value. |
† b. In the
phr. of (great, little, etc.) valour.
| c 1450 Lovelich Grail xxvi. 332 This olde gentyl knyht..purveied him of Gold & of tresowr, and of mani a Iewel of gret valowr. 1496–7 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 123 She hath in coyne in old nobles, cli,..with other goods of great valour. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 32 Oure fyngres shyninge with precyous stons Sett in golden rynges of ryche valoure. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xv. 99 b, A long and large girdle of silke and gold of no small beautie and valour. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 439 [Zemes] caused his treasure, plate, jewels, and other things of great valour and light carriage to be trussed up. |
† c. Const.
of.
= value n. 4.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 267 That euery man..scholde..offre a peny in valoure of oure x. d. usualle. c 1440 Alph. Tales 526 He wold not gyff þer-for þe valour of a shred clowte. c 1475 Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 473 Londes and rentes unto the valoure of a M li. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 12 §27 Plate iewels or other goodes..of the valour of .xii. d. or aboue. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 176 The quene gaif him ane cheinȝe to the wallour of ane thowsand crounis. 1600 Holland Livy xliii. v. 1159 To send presents..to the valour of two thousand Asses over and above. |
† d. spec. (See
quot.)
Obs.—1| 1607 Cowell Interpreter, Valour of Mariage..is a writ that lyeth for the Lord, hauing profered covenable mariage to the Infant, without disparidgement, against the Infant, comming to his yeares, if he refuse to take the Lords offer. And it is to recouer the value of the mariage. |
4. The amount, quantity, etc.,
of (so much or so many).
rare.
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair iv. vi, I thinke wee were best put hem in the stocks,..for the valour of an houre, or such a thing, till his worship come. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., It might be about the valour of three hours, two miles, four acres, etc. |