vaut

Vaut is an archaic English verb meaning “to be worth” or “to amount to.” In modern English, its everyday equivalent would usually be “is worth,” as in saying that a faithful service “vaunts” no—more naturally, “is worth” or “deserves” much more than money. The word has a formal, historical quality and is often associated with heraldic inscriptions, mottos, and other contexts that deliberately preserve traditional language. Its value lies partly in showing how English once expressed worth and estimation: “vaut” treats value as something that can be assessed, deserved, or accorded. It is not normally used in contemporary conversation, and substituting it for “is worth” in an ordinary sentence would sound conspicuously old-fashioned. For readers encountering it in an inscription or historical text, the key distinction is that it describes the worth of a person, deed, office, or thing, rather than the purchase price of an object.

Archaic: to be worth or amount to; to have a certain value. It survives chiefly in heraldic and other formal or historical uses.

Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.

Etymology of vaut

Vaut comes through Anglo-French from Old French vaut, the third-person singular form of valoir, meaning “to be worth.” That French word was borrowed from Latin valere, “to be strong,” “to have power or value,” and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root associated with strength or power. English later used vaut chiefly in formal and heraldic language; the related English words value and valor retain the same older idea of worth and strength.

How vaut is actually used

Archaic and uncommon. It is mainly encountered in formal, heraldic, or historical contexts, rather than modern everyday English; present-day speakers usually say “is worth.”

Easily confused with vaut

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Words and phrases paired with vaut

Rhymes with vaut