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Chambers (1908)

Valentine

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This edition’s origin note

[O. Fr. valentin, a young person betrothed on the first Sunday in Lent, perh. from a form valant, equiv. to galant, gallant, but commonly identified with the name of St Valentine, on whose day the choice of valentines came to be made, because birds on that day were supposed to choose their mates.]

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The complete extracted entry

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Historical source text, not a reviewed *SET-U analysis. Claims and terminology belong to this edition.

Valentine, val′en-tīn, n. a lover or sweetheart chosen on St Valentine's Day, 14th February: a love-letter or other amatory print sent on that day. [O. Fr. valentin, a young person betrothed on the first Sunday in Lent, perh. from a form valant, equiv. to galant, gallant, but commonly identified with the name of St Valentine, on whose day the choice of valentines came to be made, because birds on that day were supposed to choose their mates.]

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Edition, rights and traceability

Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
Thomas Davidson (editor)
1908

Public-domain-US ↗ · United States

Publisher marks these historical texts public domain in the USA. Transformed book text excludes Gutenberg branding; source attribution is a bibliographic acknowledgment. No non-US public-domain determination is made.

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