Word.ws English Dictionary

on equal terms

on equal terms prepositional phrase: with the same set of advantages and disadvantages; on an equal footing, on a level playing field.

Prepositional phrase

  1. With the same set of advantages and disadvantages; on an equal footing, on a level playing field.
    • The two teams will battle it out on equal terms.
    • Although very distant from the lives of her subjects – she never went to school and had only the most fleeting experiences of being on equal terms with anyone – she grew into a much respected figure, admired for her stoicism and diligenceSeptember 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian
  2. With respect for people's backgrounds, rights, and responsibilities; as equals.
    • The two populations must learn to live with each other on equal terms.

Questions about on equal terms

What does on equal terms mean?
On equal terms means with the same set of advantages and disadvantages; on an equal footing, on a level playing field.
What part of speech is on equal terms?
On equal terms is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on equal terms in the dictionary

  1. on duty
  2. on earth
  3. on edge
  4. on end
  5. on equal footing
  6. on equal terms
  7. on eternal patrol
  8. on everybody's lips
  9. on everyone's lips
  10. on familiar ground
  11. on file

Source and license

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