valid
- 1Meeting the requirements of the relevant rules, and so accepted as proper or correct.
Only votes cast before the deadline are counted as valid.
A valid passport is required to board the flight.
Similarlegitimate, acceptable, current, legal, official
Oppositeinvalid, void, expired, illegitimate
- 2Well grounded or justifiable; supported by sound reasoning and pertinent to the matter.
His objection was valid, given the missing safety data.
Reviewers found her criticism entirely valid and recommended changes.
Similarsound, legitimate, justified, reasonable, well-founded
Oppositeinvalid, unfounded, baseless, unjustified
Note
The everyday sense keeps the strength of its root. Latin validus comes from valeō, 'to be strong, to be healthy, to be worth', and Middle French valide still meant 'healthy, sound'. A valid answer or objection is one that stands up under challenge. Keep it apart from the logician's sense, where an argument can be valid and still reach a false conclusion.
- 3Related to the current topic or presented within context; relevant to the matter at hand.
It's a fair criticism, but it isn't valid in this discussion; we're deciding the budget, not the schedule.
Once the speaker tied her childhood story back to the theme of the panel, the detour seemed valid after all.
Similarrelevant, pertinent, applicable, germane
Oppositeirrelevant, inapplicable
- 4Of an argument: such that its conclusion must be true whenever its premises are true.
A valid argument can still reach a false conclusion if one premise is false.
The logicians confirmed that the proof's structure was valid.
Oppositeinvalid, fallacious
Note
Here validity is a property of form, not of truth. An argument is valid when its premises cannot all be true while its conclusion is false. Put another way, the premises together with the denial of the conclusion are inconsistent. Whether the premises actually hold is a separate question, and validity alone does not settle it.
- 5In logic, of a formula or system, true under every possible assignment of values to its variables.
A valid formula holds under every assignment of truth values.
The system proved valid across all the configurations they tested.
Oppositeinvalid
Note
Logic applies the word to single formulas as well as to whole arguments. A valid formula holds under every interpretation, whatever values its variables take. In propositional logic that makes it a tautology, true in every row of its truth table. For the use concerning premises and conclusions, see validity of arguments.
- 6Of a sacrament: genuine and truly effective, as distinct from one that is merely regular or licit.
The Church recognized the marriage as valid despite the irregular setting.
A baptism performed by a layperson can be valid in urgent cases.
Oppositeinvalid
Note
Sacramental theology separates two questions about a rite. Validity asks whether the sacrament really took place: whether the essential matter, form and intention were present, so that it confers what it signifies. Being licit or regular asks whether it was also performed according to church law and discipline. A rite can be valid yet irregular, which is why an emergency baptism by a layperson still counts.
Practice
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Origin
Borrowed from Middle French valide ("healthy, sound, in good order"), from Latin validus, from valeō ("to be strong, to be healthy, to be worth"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "be strong."