valise
Americannoun
noun
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.
A few steps away, a kosher carving knife, a pushcart, a pickle barrel and a battered traveling valise used by immigrants from Lithuania are lined up against a wall.
From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2022
At the college archives, Creamer showed us more of the Stevens artifacts housed there, including a valise marked with his name and a photograph of the congressman’s boot maker.
From Washington Post • Jun. 10, 2021
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
At 21 she fled to London with a handful of records in her valise and has been an expat ever since.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2015
“The little valise of Monsieur, I have placed it here.”
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.
