Valuative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the process of determining worth, this concept involves assessing value, making evaluations, and expressing qualitative judgments about significance
2. This notion is associated with evaluating the importance of things through judgments on worth, expressing qualitative assessments, and discerning value
3. Related to the assessment of worth, this term encompasses the act of making evaluations, the process of expressing value judgments, and the determination of significance in various contexts

Etymology: "Valuative" is formed from "value" plus the suffix "-ative," which English uses to turn verbs and nouns into adjectives meaning "tending to" or "relating to" the base idea. "Value" itself comes into English through Old French "value," the feminine past participle of "valoir," meaning "to be worth," which descends from Latin "valere," "to be strong, be of worth." So the word's core is simply "pertaining to worth," with the suffix doing the grammatical work. The adjective is a plain technical formation rather than a word with a dramatic backstory. It turns up mainly in philosophy, linguistics, and the social sciences, where writers need a term for statements or judgments that express an evaluation rather than a neutral fact. A sentence like "this film is wonderful" is often called valuative, while "this film runs ninety minutes" is not. The contrast is the whole point of the term.

Synonyms: evaluative, assessing

Antonyms: non-evaluative