equal en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *aikʷos? Old Latin aiquos Latin aequus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin aequālisbor. Middle English equal English equal From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.
Meanings
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(not-comparable, usually) The same in one or more respects.
Dr. [Eugenia] Cheng's latest book, Unequal: The Math of When Things Do and Don’t Add Up, is all about equations and will be released in the United States on Tuesday. But it is more than a regurgitation of the many formulas you may recall learning in high school. In the book, Dr. Cheng argues that an equation — in its barest sense, a declaration that two things are equal — can be a profound statement on the choices we make about what is or is not the same. For example, 2 × 3 may equal 3 × 2. But two packs of three cookies each is distinct from three packs of two cookies each. A cube drawn face-on versus from one edge looks different, though we understand the two shapes to be the same. "Almost everything can be considered equal and unequal at the same time," Dr. Cheng wrote. "And it's up to us what we do about it."
2025 August 30, Katrina Miller, “You Don't Need to Be Good at Math to Enjoy It. In her latest book, Eugenia Cheng, a mathematician, explores the choices we make to determine if two things — numbers, shapes, words and even people — are equal. 'A Conversation With' column”, in New York Times:Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal
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(not-comparable, usually) The same in one or more respects. ▸ The same in value (status, merit, etc): having or deserving the same rights or treatment.
[…] women and men should be equal regarding civil rights / the right to occupational work.
2009, Kari Melby, Christina Carlsson Wetterberg, Anna-Birte Ravn, Gender Equality and Welfare Politics in Scandinavia: The Limits of Political Ambition?, Policy Press, →ISBN, page 57:We hold that all men are created equal and are thus equal under the law.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than the others.
1945, George Orwell, Animal Farm:[Under] the combat exclusion [preventing women from serving in combat...] Women are not equal citizens; women are a certain kind of citizen, a separate class with distinctly lower status.
1983, Law & Inequality:
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(not-comparable, usually) The same in one or more respects. ▸ The same in all respects that matter practically; interchangeable, fungible, or (even sometimes) identical for practical purposes.
All else being equal, we can expect this factor to have no discernible effect by itself.
Equal conditions should produce equal results.
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.
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:They who are not disposed to receive them may let them alone or reject them; it is equal to me.
1705, George Cheyne, The Philosophical Principles of Religion Natural and Revealed:
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(not-comparable, usually) The same in one or more respects. ▸ Exactly identical, having the same value.
All right angles are equal.
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.
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:
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(not-comparable, obsolete, usually) Fair, impartial.
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.
1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:Thee, O Jove, no equall judge I deem.
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 35:Are not my ways equal?
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 18:29:
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(comparable, not-comparable, usually) Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
her comprehension was certainly more equal to the covert meaning, the superior intelligence, of those five letters so arranged.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:much less is it in my power to make my commendations equal to your merits.
1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →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.
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:This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.
The Scots trusted not their own numbers as equal to fight with the English.
1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:be equal to the task
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(not-comparable, obsolete, usually) Not variable; equable; uniform; even.
an equal movement
an equal temper
1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
- (not-comparable, usually) Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more equal | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| æquall | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| æqual | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| most equal | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Descendants
Hyponyms
Relateds
Synonyms
level · dispassionate · unpartisan · fair · clinical · unvarying · steady · uniform · even-keeled · unbigoted · nonchanging · impartial · detached · evenhanded · constant · equivalent · objective · equal · candid · unvarying · neutral · on a par · monotonous · unbiased · equable · nonpartial · coordinate · unaltering · unprejudiced · fairhanded · even · uninterested · unvarying · stable · unchanging · even · indistinguishing · equitable · unvaried · neuter · identical · uncheckered · stationary · nonpersonal · egal · equal · objective · unbiased · uniform · static · equal · even · disinterested · equivalent · unprepossessed · cold · regular · equal · unpartial · equivalent · samely · fair-minded · nonpartisan · indifferent · nonaligned · changeless · imprejudicate · consistent · equivalent
Translations (205)
ka თანასწორი (the same in all respects) · alt теҥдеш (the same in all respects) · nl gelijk (the same in all respects) · fr égal (the same in all respects) · ru то́т же (the same in all respects) · he שָׁוָה (the same in all respects) · ast igual (the same in all respects) · es igual (the same in all respects) · hy հավասար (the same in all respects) · kmr yeksan (the same in all respects) · nl identiek (the same in all respects) · he שָׁוֶה (the same in all respects) · wa ewal (the same in all respects) · mrw repeng (mathematics: exactly identical) · fi tasainen ((obsolete in English) not variable) · be ро́ўны (the same in all respects) · mk ист (the same in all respects) · uz teng (the same in all respects) · tg баробар (mathematics: exactly identical) · az eyni (the same in all respects) · es equivalente (mathematics: exactly identical) · fi samansuuruinen (mathematics: exactly identical) · fur avuâl (the same in all respects) · es equiparable (the same in all respects) · tg баробар (the same in all respects) · tl parehas (the same in all respects) · fi tasapuolinen ((obsolete in English) fair, impartial) · pms ugual (the same in all respects) · ar مُسَاوٍ (mathematics: exactly identical) · fro igal (the same in all respects) · sh је̏дна̄к (the same in all respects) · grc ἴσος (the same in all respects) · scn uguali (the same in all respects) · fi mies- (music: intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female) · pl równy (the same in all respects) · af dieselfde (the same in all respects) · fi sama (the same in all respects) · cs rovný (the same in all respects) · no lik (the same in all respects) · sh jȅdnāk (the same in all respects) · lv vienlīdzīgs (mathematics: exactly identical) · ca igual (the same in all respects) · ka ტოლი (the same in all respects) · ko 똑같다 (the same in all respects) · af gelyk (the same in all respects) · cy hafal (mathematics: exactly identical) · cmn 等量 (mathematics: exactly identical) · ang ġelīċ (mathematics: exactly identical) · es equiparable (mathematics: exactly identical) · es igual (mathematics: exactly identical) · ko 동일하다 (the same in all respects) · qu paqta (the same in all respects) · sc parinale (the same in all respects) · de gleich (mathematics: exactly identical) · sah тыҥ (the same in all respects) · nl gelijke (mathematics: exactly identical) · fi samanlainen (the same in all respects) · ug تەڭ (the same in all respects) · gd leithid (the same in all respects) · fi nais- (music: intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female) · nl gelijk (mathematics: exactly identical) · ro egal (mathematics: exactly identical) · pt igual (the same in all respects) · ja 平等 (the same in all respects) · hi बराबर (the same in all respects) · sc chitu (the same in all respects) · da lig (the same in all respects) · el ίσος (the same in all respects) · it uguale (the same in all respects) · ur سمان (the same in all respects) · no er lik (mathematics: exactly identical) · ug تەڭلىك (mathematics: exactly identical) · fa برابر (mathematics: exactly identical) · it pari (the same in all respects) · sc auguale (the same in all respects) · oc egal (the same in all respects) · pt igual (mathematics: exactly identical) · zdj sawa (the same in all respects) · cs stejný (mathematics: exactly identical) · ht egal (the same in all respects) · sl ȋsti (the same in all respects) · be адна́кі (the same in all respects) · tl parehas (mathematics: exactly identical) · uli ikool’ (mathematics: exactly identical) · ota سوی (the same in all respects) · eo egala (the same in all respects) · nl gelijke (the same in all respects) · cmn 平等 (the same in all respects) · kea igual (the same in all respects) · zza veraver (the same in all respects) · uk рі́вний (the same in all respects) · ang ġelīċ (the same in all respects) · lv vienāds (the same in all respects) · ur برابر (mathematics: exactly identical) · sv lik (the same in all respects) · km ស្មើ (the same in all respects) · be ро́ўны (mathematics: exactly identical) · sk rovný (mathematics: exactly identical) · ky тең (the same in all respects) · ja 等しい (the same in all respects) · lt tolygus (the same in all respects) · uk одна́кий (the same in all respects) · th เท่ากัน (the same in all respects) · ro egal (the same in all respects) · fa همتا (the same in all respects) · sq njëjtë (the same in all respects) · cs stejný (the same in all respects) · sv lik (mathematics: exactly identical) · es equipolente (the same in all respects) · sh ȉstī (the same in all respects) · fro ivel (the same in all respects) · lv līdzīgs (the same in all respects) · sh и̏стӣ (the same in all respects) · uk то́й же (the same in all respects) · fi riittävän hyvä (adequate; sufficiently capable) · el ίσος (mathematics: exactly identical) · sc aguale (the same in all respects) · uk рі́вний (mathematics: exactly identical) · ru одина́ковый (the same in all respects) · az bərabər (the same in all respects) · ca igual (mathematics: exactly identical) · la pār (the same in all respects) · tr eşit (the same in all respects) · as সমান (the same in all respects) · sc oguale (the same in all respects) · sc gali (the same in all respects) · scn avali (the same in all respects) · it uguale (music: intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female) · hu egyenlő (the same in all respects) · kix vī (the same in all respects) · izh yhenlaajain (the same in all respects) · grc ἴσος (mathematics: exactly identical) · pl równy (mathematics: exactly identical) · bg ра́вен (mathematics: exactly identical) · it uguale (mathematics: exactly identical) · fr égal (mathematics: exactly identical) · de gleich (the same in all respects) · hu egyenrangú (the same in all respects) · ru ра́вный (mathematics: exactly identical) · scn aguali (the same in all respects) · hu egyenlő (mathematics: exactly identical) · cmn 同等 (the same in all respects) · ug باراۋەر (the same in all respects) · et võrdne (the same in all respects) · hi समान (the same in all respects) · be адно́лькавы (the same in all respects) · eo sama (mathematics: exactly identical) · nl identieke (the same in all respects) · bg същ (the same in all respects) · fi riittävä (adequate; sufficiently capable) · cmn 等於 /等于 (mathematics: exactly identical) · lt lygus (mathematics: exactly identical) · acw مُتساوي (the same in all respects) · ka თანაბარი (the same in all respects) · he שווה (the same in all respects) · ba тиңдәш (the same in all respects) · scn iguali (the same in all respects) · pl jednakowy (the same in all respects) · af identies (the same in all respects) · ko 같다 (the same in all respects) · es equivalente (the same in all respects) · ba тиң (the same in all respects) · gl igual (mathematics: exactly identical) · ug ئوخشاش (the same in all respects) · sk rovnaký (the same in all respects) · lv līdzīgs (mathematics: exactly identical) · eu berdin (the same in all respects) · uk одна́ковий (the same in all respects) · cs rovný (mathematics: exactly identical) · ar عِدْل (the same in all respects) · bg една́къв (the same in all respects) · eo sama (the same in all respects) · tr eşit (mathematics: exactly identical) · ru ра́вный (the same in all respects) · ur برابر (the same in all respects) · nl identiek (mathematics: exactly identical) · an igual (the same in all respects) · kmr wekhev (the same in all respects) · la aequus (the same in all respects) · fi identtinen (mathematics: exactly identical) · cy cydraddol (the same in all respects) · bg ра́вен (the same in all respects) · hu megfelelő (adequate; sufficiently capable) · fa برابر (the same in all respects) · scn eguali (the same in all respects) · ar الْمُسَاوِي (mathematics: exactly identical) · sc uguale (the same in all respects) · ug باراۋەر (mathematics: exactly identical) · ka სწორი (the same in all respects) · sl enak (the same in all respects) · ug تەڭ (mathematics: exactly identical) · nl identieke (mathematics: exactly identical) · af gelyk (mathematics: exactly identical) · ja 同じ (the same in all respects) · be то́й жа (the same in all respects) · lmo ugual (the same in all respects) · mk еднаков (the same in all respects) · lt lygus (the same in all respects) · alt теҥ (the same in all respects) · hu alkalmas (adequate; sufficiently capable) · es equipolente (mathematics: exactly identical) · gl igual (the same in all respects) · lt vienodas (the same in all respects) · sc iguale (the same in all respects) · hi बराबर (mathematics: exactly identical)