use value

noun

"use-value" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“use value” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The ability of an object (not necessarily a commodity) to satisfy a human need; a utility.

Corpus desk

Index EN-use-value · use value · English

use value · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for use value
PropertyValue
Headworduse value
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “use value” in English

use valueranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

use value is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for use value in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of German Gebrauchswert. The correct English form is use value, spelled U-S-E- -V-A-L-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The ability of an object (not necessarily a commodity) to satisfy a human need; a utility.
  2. 2
    The ability of an object (not necessarily a commodity) to satisfy a human need; a utility.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how use value appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The utility of a thing makes it a use-value. But this utility is not a thing of air. Being limited by the physical properties of the commodity, it has no existence apart from that commodity. A commodity, such as iron, corn, or a diamond, is therefore, so far as it is a material thing, a use-value, something useful. This property of a commodity is independ…
  2. A commodity is, in the first place, a thing that satisfies a human want; in the second place, it is a thing that can be exchanged for another thing. The utility of a thing makes it a use-value. Exchange-value (or simply, value) presents itself first of all as the ratio, the proportion, in which a certain number of use-values of one sort are exchanged for…

Etymology

Calque of German Gebrauchswert.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "use value"?
"use value" is spelled U-S-E- -V-A-L-U-E.
What does "use value" mean?
As a noun, "use value" means: The ability of an object (not necessarily a commodity) to satisfy a human need; a utility.
What is the origin of the word "use value"?
Calque of German Gebrauchswert. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list