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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.
Pronunciation
Adjective
equal (not generally comparable, comparative more equal, superlative most equal)
- (not comparable) The same in all respects.
Equal conditions should produce equal results.
All men are created equal.
1705, George Cheyne, The Philosophical Principles of Religion Natural and Revealed:They who are not disposed to receive them may let them alone or reject them; it is equal to me.
1980 July, Frank Herbert, “Dune Genesis”, in Omni, volume 2, number 10, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 74, column 2; republished as Ultimate Guide To Dune (Part 2) Book One (1:11:30), 2017:I now believe that evolution, or deevolution, never ends short of death, that no society has ever achieved an absolute pinnacle, that all humans are not created equal. In fact, I believe attempts to create some abstract equalization create a morass of injustices that rebound on the equalizers. Equal justice and equal opportunity are ideals we should seek, but we should recognize that humans administer the ideals and that humans do not have equal ability.
- (mathematics, not comparable) Exactly identical, having the same value.
All right angles are equal.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
- (obsolete) Fair, impartial.
1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:it could not but much redound to the lustre of your milde and equall Government, when as private persons are hereby animated to thinke ye better pleas'd with publick advice, then other statists have been delighted heretofore with publicke flattery.
- (comparable) Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter X, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:Here was a man some twenty thousand miles from home, by the way of Cape Horn, that is—which was the only way he could get there—thrown among people as strange to him as though he were in the planet Jupiter; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease; preserving the utmost serenity; content with his own companionship; always equal to himself.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: for John Murray, →OCLC:her comprehension was certainly more equal to the covert meaning, the superior intelligence, of those five letters so arranged.
1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Threnody”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC:[…] whose voice an equal messenger / Conveyed thy meaning mild.
- (obsolete) Not variable; equable; uniform; even.
an equal movement
- (music) Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.
Usage notes
- In mathematics, this adjective can be used in phrases like "A and B are equal", "A is equal to B", and, less commonly, "A is equal with B".
- The most common comparative use is the ironic expression more equal.
Synonyms
Translations
the same in all respects
- Afrikaans: gelyk, dieselfde (af), identies
- Arabic: عِدْل (ar) (ʕidl)
- Hijazi Arabic: مُتساوي (mutsāwi)
- Aragonese: igual
- Armenian: հավասար (hy) (havasar)
- Assamese: সমান (xman)
- Asturian: igual
- Azerbaijani: bərabər (az), eyni (az)
- Basque: berdin
- Belarusian: ро́ўны (róŭny), адна́кі (adnáki), адно́лькавы (be) (adnólʹkavy), то́й жа (tój ža) (the same)
- Bulgarian: една́къв (bg) (ednákǎv), ра́вен (bg) (ráven), същ (bg) (sǎšt)
- Catalan: igual (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 平等 (zh) (píngděng)
- Czech: stejný (cs), rovný (cs)
- Danish: lig (da)
- Dutch: gelijk (nl), gelijke (nl), identiek (nl), identieke (nl)
- Esperanto: sama (eo)
- Estonian: võrdne
- Finnish: sama (fi), samanlainen (fi)
- French: égal (fr)
- Old French: igal, ivel
- Friulian: avuâl
- Galician: igual (gl)
- Georgian: თანასწორი (tanasc̣ori), თანაბარი (tanabari), ტოლი (ka) (ṭoli), სწორი (sc̣ori)
- German: gleich (de)
- Greek: ίσος (el) (ísos)
- Ancient: ἴσος (ísos)
- Haitian Creole: egal
- Hindi: समान (hi) (samān), बराबर (hi) (barābar)
- Hungarian: egyenlő (hu), egyenrangú (hu)
- Ingrian: yhenlaajain
- Italian: uguale (it), pari (it)
- Japanese: 等しい (ja) (ひとしい, hitoshii), 同じ (ja) (おなじ, onaji)
- Kabuverdianu: igual
- Khmer: ស្មើ (km) (smaə)
- Korean: 같다 (ko) (gatda), 동일하다 (ko) (dong'ilhada), 똑같다 (ko) (ttokgatda)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: wekhev (ku), yeksan (ku)
- Kyrgyz: тең (ky) (teŋ)
- Latin: aequus (la), pār (la)
- Latvian: līdzīgs, vienāds
- Lithuanian: lygus, tolygus, vienodas
- Lombard: ugual (lmo)
- Macedonian: еднаков (ednakov), ист (ist)
- Ngazidja Comorian: sawa
- Norwegian: lik (no)
- Occitan: egal (oc)
- Old English: ġelīċ
- Ottoman Turkish: سوی (seviy)
- Persian: برابر (fa) (barâbar), همتا (fa) (hamtâ)
- Piedmontese: ugual
- Polish: równy (pl), jednakowy (pl)
- Portuguese: igual (pt)
- Quechua: paqta
- Romanian: egal (ro)
- Russian: ра́вный (ru) (rávnyj), одина́ковый (ru) (odinákovyj), то́т же (ru) (tót že) (the same)
- Sardinian: aguale, auguale, gali, oguale, uguale, iguale, chitu, parinale
- Scottish Gaelic: leithid
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: је̏дна̄к, и̏стӣ (the same)
- Roman: jȅdnāk (sh), ȉstī (sh) (the same)
- Sicilian: uguali (scn), aguali (scn), avali (scn), eguali, iguali (scn)
- Slovak: rovnaký
- Slovene: enak, ȋsti (the same)
- Spanish: igual (es)
- Swedish: lik (sv)
- Tagalog: parehas
- Tajik: баробар (tg) (barobar)
- Thai: เท่ากัน (th) (tâo-gan)
- Ukrainian: рі́вний (rívnyj), одна́ковий (uk) (odnákovyj), одна́кий (odnákyj), то́й же (tój že) (the same)
- Urdu: سمان (samān), برابر (barābar)
- Uyghur: تەڭ (teng), باراۋەر (barawer), ئوخشاش (oxshash)
- Walloon: ewal (wa)
- Welsh: cydraddol
- Yakut: тыҥ (tıñ)
- Zazaki: veraver
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mathematics: exactly identical
- Afrikaans: gelyk
- Arabic: (indefinite) مُسَاوٍ (musāwin), (definite) الْمُسَاوِي (al-musāwī)
- Belarusian: ро́ўны (róŭny)
- Bulgarian: ра́вен (bg) (ráven)
- Catalan: igual (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 等於/等于 (zh) (děngyú), 等量 (zh) (děngliàng)
- Czech: stejný (cs), rovný (cs)
- Dutch: gelijk (nl), gelijke (nl), identiek (nl), identieke (nl)
- Esperanto: sama (eo)
- Finnish: samansuuruinen (fi), identtinen (fi)
- French: égal (fr)
- Galician: igual (gl)
- German: gleich (de)
- Greek: ίσος (el) (ísos)
- Ancient Greek: ἴσος (ísos)
- Hindi: बराबर (hi) (barābar)
- Hungarian: egyenlő (hu)
- Italian: uguale (it)
- Latvian: līdzīgs, vienlīdzīgs
- Lithuanian: lygus
- Maranao: repeng
- Norwegian: er lik
- Old English: ġelīċ
- Persian: برابر (fa) (barâbar)
- Polish: równy (pl)
- Portuguese: igual (pt)
- Romanian: egal (ro)
- Russian: ра́вный (ru) (rávnyj)
- Slovak: rovný
- Spanish: igual (es)
- Swedish: lik (sv)
- Tagalog: parehas
- Tajik: баробар (tg) (barobar)
- Ukrainian: рі́вний (rívnyj)
- Urdu: برابر (barābar)
- Uyghur: تەڭ (teng), تەڭلىك (tenglik), باراۋەر (barawer)
- Welsh: hafal (cy)
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(obsolete in English) fair, impartial
adequate; sufficiently capable
(obsolete in English) not variable
music: intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female
Translations to be checked
Verb
equal (third-person singular simple present equals, present participle (Commonwealth) equalling or (US) equaling, simple past and past participle (Commonwealth) equalled or (US) equaled)
- (mathematics, copulative) To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.
Two plus two equals four.
- (transitive) To make equivalent to; to cause to match.
David equaled the water levels of the bottles, so they now both contain exactly 1 liter.
2004, Mary Levy, Jim Kelly, Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?:There was an even more remarkable attendance figure that underscores the devotion exhibited by our fans, because it was in 1991 that they set a single season in-stadium attendance record that has never been equaled.
- (transitive) To match in degree or some other quality, to match up to.
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XLI, page 64:And what delights can equal those
That stir the spirit’s inner deeps,
When one that loves but knows not, reaps
A truth from one that loves and knows?
- (copulative, informal) To have as consequence, to amount to, to mean.
Losing this deal equals losing your job.
Might does not equal right.
Synonyms
Translations
be equal to
- Arabic: سَاوَى (sāwā)
- Bulgarian: равнявам се (ravnjavam se)
- Catalan: equivaldre
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 匹敵/匹敌 (pat1 dik6)
- Hokkien: 匹敵/匹敌 (phit-tia̍k)
- Mandarin: 等於/等于 (zh) (děngyú), 倫比/伦比 (zh) (lúnbǐ), (literary), 匹敵/匹敌 (zh) (pʻi3-ti2)
- Czech: rovnat se
- Danish: være lig med
- Dutch: gelijk zijn aan
- Finnish: olla yhtä suuri (kuin)
- French: égaler à
- German: gleichen (de)
- Italian: eguagliare (it)
- Khmer: ស្មើនឹង (smaə nɨng)
- Latin: adaequō
- Macedonian: е еднакво на (e ednakvo na)
- Maori: whārite
- Persian: برابر بودن, مساوی بودن, شدن (fa) (šodan), دادن (fa) (dâdan)
- Portuguese: ser igual a, igualar (pt)
- Russian: равня́ться (ru) (ravnjátʹsja) (+ dative case)
- Spanish: igualar (es), equivaler (es)
- Swedish: vara lika med
- Thai: เท่ากับ (th) (tâo-gàp)
- Turkish: eşleşmek (tr), dengi olmak, eş düşmek, bire bir olmak
- Welsh: hafalu, bod yn hafal i
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Noun
equal (countable and uncountable, plural equals)
- A person or thing of equal status to others.
We're all equals here.
This beer has no equal.
1712 January 4 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, December 24, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 256; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:Those who were once his equals envy and defame him.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 192:The two who have no equals become friends without equal.
2005, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, David Kessler, On Grief and Grieving, →ISBN, page 150:They had hoped their son, a stockbroker, would marry a financial equal, but Suzette, a teacher, did not come from money.
- (obsolete) State of being equal; equality.
Synonyms
- (person or thing of equal status to others): peer
Translations
person or thing of equal status to others
Derived terms
Related terms
References
- ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (1942 March 2) “3. The Consonants”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 2, page 88.
Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin aequālis, of unknown origin. Doublet of egal.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛːkwal/, /ɛːˈkwaːl/
Adjective
equal (Late Middle English)
- identical in amount, extent, or portion
- even or smooth (of surface)
Descendants
References