Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal
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:
2
Usually The same in value (status, merit, etc): having or deserving the same rights or treatment.
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:
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[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:
[…] 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:
3
Usually The same in all respects that matter practically; interchangeable, fungible, or (even sometimes) identical for practical purposes.
Equal conditions should produce equal results.
All else being equal, we can expect this factor to have no discernible effect by itself.
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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:
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:
4
Mathematics, SciencesUsually 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:
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:
Are not my ways equal?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 18:29:
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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:
6
Usually Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.
be equal to the task
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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:
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:
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:
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:
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Obsolete, Usually Not variable; equable; uniform; even.
an equal movement
an equal temper1693, 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:
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, MusicUsually Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.
Etymology From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.
1
Mathematics, Sciences To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.
Two plus two equals four.
2
To make equivalent to; to cause to match.
David equaled the water levels of the bottles, so they now both contain exactly 1 liter.
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.2004, Mary Levy, Jim Kelly, Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?:
3
To match in degree or some other quality, to match up to.
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?1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 64:
4
Informal To have as consequence, to amount to, to mean.
Losing this deal equals losing your job.
Might does not equal right.
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Eclectic and sophisticated are hence coded as negative traits–so cool equaling not so cool–putting Swift in seemed lockstep with the anti-intellectual sentiment that's led to the astonishing 21st-Century Bubbafication of the Republican Party.2012, Mike Seely, “The War on Williamsburg”, in Seattle Weekly, Volume 37, Number 49, 5 December - 11 December 2012, page 36:
Etymology From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.
1
A person or thing of equal status to others.
We're all equals here.
This beer has no equal.
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Those who were once his equals envy and defame him.1712 January 3 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, 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:
The two who have no equals become friends without equal.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 192:
They had hoped their son, a stockbroker, would marry a financial equal, but Suzette, a teacher, did not come from money.2005, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, David Kessler, On Grief and Grieving, →ISBN, page 150:
Thou that presum'st to weigh the world anew, And all things to an equall to restore.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC: