vallis

Latin

Etymology 1

Uncertain, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”), same source as Latin vāllum (“rampart”), North Frisian wal (“wall”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”).

Alternative forms

• vallēs (post-classical)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯al.lis/, [ˈu̯älːʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈval.lis/, [ˈvälːis]

Noun

vallis f (genitive vallis); third declension

1. (literal) a valley, vale
2. (transferred sense, poetic) a hollow

   Cur valle permutem Sabina divitias operosiores? (Hor, Odes 3, I)

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Inflection

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vallis	vallēs
Genitive	vallis	vallium
Dative	vallī	vallibus
Accusative	vallem	vallēs vallīs
Ablative	valle	vallibus
Vocative	vallis	vallēs

Derived terms

• convallis
• vallestria
• vallicula
• Vallōnia

Descendants

• Aragonese: bal, ball, balle
• Aromanian: vali, vale
• Old French: val, vaul, valee, valey
  • French: val, vallée, vallon
  • → English: vale, valley
• Friulian: val f
• Ladin: val
• Megleno-Romanian: vali
• Norman: valée
• Occitan: val, vath; vau
• Old Galician-Portuguese: vale m
  • Galician: val m
  • Portuguese: vale m
• Picard: vau
• Romanian: vale f
• Romansch: val f
• Sardinian: badde, vadhe, vadde
• Sicilian: vaḍḍi
• Venetian: vałe, val
• Borrowings:
  • → Asturian: valle m
  • → Basque: bailara
  • → Catalan: vall f
  • → Extremaduran: valli
  • → Italian: valle f
  • → Leonese: valle m
  • → Ligurian: valle
  • → Spanish: valle m

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯aːl.liːs/, [ˈu̯äːlːʲiːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈval.lis/, [ˈvälːis]

Noun

vāllīs n

1. dative/ablative plural of vāllum

References

• “vallis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• vallis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.