Value-form
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The social form of a commodity as a representation of value (socially necessary labour time). Marxism, countable, uncountable
"Commodities come into the world in the shape of use values, articles, or goods, such as iron, linen, corn, &c. This is their plain, homely, bodily form. They are, however, commodities, only because they are something two-fold, both objects of utility, and, at the same time, depositories of value. They manifest themselves therefore as commodities, or have the form of commodities, only in so far as they have two forms, a physical or natural form, and a value form."
Example
More examples"Commodities come into the world in the shape of use values, articles, or goods, such as iron, linen, corn, &c. This is their plain, homely, bodily form. They are, however, commodities, only because they are something two-fold, both objects of utility, and, at the same time, depositories of value. They manifest themselves therefore as commodities, or have the form of commodities, only in so far as they have two forms, a physical or natural form, and a value form."
Etymology
Calque of German German Wertform, sometimes also translated as "form of value".
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.