Word.ws English Dictionary

equal

/ˈiːkwəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

archaic/ˈiːkəl/

equal adjective: the same in one or more respects.

Adjective

equal (not generally comparable, comparative more equal, superlative most equal)

  1. (not comparable, usually) The same in one or more respects.
    • 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...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...
    Synonyms:
    equivalent
    1. (not comparable, 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
    2. (not comparable, 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.
    3. (not comparable, usually) 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
  2. (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
    • Are not my ways equal?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 18:29
  3. (comparable, not comparable, usually) Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
    • This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.
    • be equal to the task
  4. (not comparable, 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. […]...
  5. (not comparable, usually) Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.

Verb

equal (third-person singular simple present equals, present participle (US) equaling or (UK) equalling, simple past and past participle (US) equaled or (UK) equalled)

  1. (copulative) To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.
    • Two plus two equals four.
    Synonyms:
    be, is
  2. (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.
    • 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. (transitive) 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. (copulative, informal) To have as consequence, to amount to, to mean.
    • Losing this deal equals losing your job.
    • Might does not equal right.

Noun

equal (countable and uncountable, plural equals)

  1. A person or thing of equal status to others.
    • We're all equals here.
    • This beer has no equal.
    Synonyms:
    peer, coordinate
  2. (obsolete) State of being equal; equality.
    • 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

equal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

equal in Hindi

the same in all respects
समान samān, बराबर barābar
mathematics: exactly identical
बराबर barābar

equal in Tamil

சமம், நிகர், சரிசமமான

equal in Urdu

the same in all respects
سمان samān, برابر barābar
mathematics: exactly identical
برابر barābar

equal in Bengali

equal, same, identical, one
সমান śoman, হমান homan
equal, even
সম śômô
equal
সমাইন্যা śômainna, হমাইন্যা hômainna
More languagesFewer languages
equal in Telugu
జత jata, భూతము bhūtamu, తుల్యము tulyamu, సమానము samānamu
equal in Malayalam
തുല്യം tulyaṁ, സമം samaṁ
equal in Kannada
ಸಾಟಿ, ಈಡು, ಎಣೆ, ತೋಡು
equal in Punjabi
برابر barābar, ਬਰਾਬਰ barābar, ਸਮਾਨ samān
equal in Sanskrit
समाचार samācāra, सामान्य sāmānya, उपम upamá, आप्नोति āpnóti
equal in Assamese
সমান xman
equal in Pashto
برابر barābár
equal in Tagalog
parehas
equal in Arabic
عِدْل ʕidl, مُسَاوٍ musāwin, الْمُسَاوِي al-musāwī, سَاوَى sāwā
equal in Indonesian
sederajat
equal in Persian
برابر barâbar, همتا hamtâ, برابر بودن, مساوی بودن
equal in Thai
เท่ากัน tâo-gan, เท่ากับ tâo-gàp

Examples of equal in a sentence

  • 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.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...
  • [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...
  • 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:

All 40 example sentences with equal

Synonyms of equal

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of equal

Forms of equal

Adjective
comparativemore equal
superlativemost equal
alternative form (obsolete)æqual
alternative form (obsolete)æquall
Verb
third-person singular presentequals
present participle USequaling
present participle UKequalling
past participle USequaled
past USequaled
past participle UKequalled
past UKequalled
Noun
pluralequals

Past tense of equal: equaled or equalled

Origin of equal

From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.

Words formed from equal

Phrases with equal

Words that rhyme with equal

Questions about equal

What does equal mean?
Equal means the same in one or more respects.
What is equal in Hindi?
Equal in Hindi is समान (samān), बराबर (barābar). See Equal meaning in Hindi.
How do you use equal in a sentence?
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.
What part of speech is equal?
Equal can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce equal?
Equal is pronounced /ˈiːkwəl/.

Words near equal in the dictionary

  1. equably
  2. Equador
  3. equaeval
  4. equafinality
  5. Equagesic
  6. equal
  7. equal detour point
  8. equal hour
  9. equal hours
  10. equal marriage
  11. equal marriages

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: equal (page history and authors); equal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); সম (Bengali) (page history and authors); జత (Telugu) (page history and authors); തുല്യം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); equal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); برابر (Punjabi) (page history and authors); आप्नोति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); برابر (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-equal.ogg.

Cite this entry: “equal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/equal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.