valise
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of valise
1605–15; < French < Italian valigia, of obscure origin; compare Medieval Latin valēsium
Explanation
A valise is a small suitcase. If you're carrying a valise as you climb onto a train, you're probably heading off on a short vacation or a weekend trip to visit a friend. The noun valise sounds a little old-fashioned these days, but it's still a good way to talk about a satchel or overnight bag. You might pack a valise for a night at your sister's house, or carry a valise onto an airplane. In the 1600's, valise was often used to mean a soldier's small bag, and while the word has a Latin root, valisia, experts aren't sure what its origins might be.
Vocabulary lists containing valise
A Streetcar Named Desire
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"Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began" by Art Spiegelman
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The Devil's Arithmetic
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The next week, Talley presented her with a Fendi valise.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2023
They characterize the Bureau as “an extended community of autodidacts and guessworkers caught up in language inquiry and the unguarded arts,” and “a valise fiction and portable literary service in the public domain.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2021
In winter he traveled to Florida to bring his valise of routines to the beachfront condominiums.
From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2016
This he most emphatically proclaimed in his creation of the X, Y and Z Portfolios, a modern-day boîte en valise, after Duchamp, a “suitcase” of the artist’s most select wares.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 17, 2015
And in Chicago a young handsome doctor stepped from a train, his surgical valise in hand.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
He and his wife have schlepped materials home by train, “five big valises recently from Prague.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Models — male and female — strutted down the runway in leather cowboy hats, cowhide valises, and checkered denim jackets adorned with bull badges, their cowboy boots boasting shiny metal points.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
These valises are a reminder of how far Talley was able to travel from his childhood in Durham and how he did so with aplomb and self-regard.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2023
Rutledge wonders as he surveys unclaimed women’s valises at Victoria Station.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2020
“Well, Monsieur, do you not wish to see what my valises contain?”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
