Describing a chemical bond formed when two atoms share electrons equally with each other, or describing compounds held together by such bonds.
From 'co-' (together) + 'valent' (from Latin 'valentia,' strength). Coined in early 20th-century chemistry to distinguish this type of bonding from ionic bonding.
Water, DNA, and every protein in your body are held together by covalent bonds—these shared-electron partnerships are the glue of life itself, way more common in living things than ionic bonds.
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