equilibrium

See also: Equilibrium and équilibrium

English

Alternative forms

æquilibrium (dated)

Etymology

From Latin aequilībrium, from equal + lībra (“balance”).[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛkwɪˈlɪbɹɪəm/, /iːkwɪˈlɪbɹɪəm/[1]
Audio (southern England) (file)

Noun

equilibrium (plural equilibriums or equilibria)

The condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced, resulting in no net change.
- 1733, Philip Miller, “HYDROSTATICKS”, in The Gardeners Dictionary: […], volume I, 2nd edition, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […], OCLC 429215710, column 1:
  To Hydroſtaticks belong whatever relates to the Gravities and Equilibria of Liquors; with the Art of weighing Bodies in Water, in order to eſtimate the ſpecifick Gravities.
- 1999, The Matrix, Agent Smith speech
  Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.
Synonyms: balance, stability
Antonyms: disequilibrium, imbalance, instability
Mental balance.
Synonym: sanity
Antonyms: insanity, instability, madness
(chemistry) The state of a reaction in which the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are the same.
(physics) The state of a body at rest or in uniform motion in which the resultant of all forces on it is zero.
- 1943 May and June, “Notes and News: Effective Locomotive "Ack-Ack" Fire”, in Railway Magazine, page 180:
  It now appears that the locomotive did not blow up, as was commonly stated at the time, but that the aeroplane flew so low as to come into contact with the dome of the engine, knocking it off. It was the combination of the impact and the uprush of steam that so disturbed the equilibrium of the raider as to cause it to crash.
Antonyms: disequilibrium, non-equilibrium

Hypernyms

(in physics): stasis

Hyponyms

(in physics): heat death (thermodynamic equilibrium state of maximum entropy)

Derived terms

acid-base equilibrium
chemical equilibrium
disequilibrium
dynamic equilibrium
dynamic stochastic general equilibrium
equilibrist
equilibrium constant
equilibrium price
equilibrium vapor pressure
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
heterogeneous equilibrium
homogeneous equilibrium
hydrostatic equilibrium
market equilibrium
Nash equilibrium
neutral equilibrium
punctuated equilibrium
stable equilibrium
static equilibrium
thermodynamic equilibrium
unstable equilibrium

Related terms

equilibrate
equilibrize

Translations

condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced

Arabic: اِتِّزَان‎ m (ittizān), تَوَازُن‎ m (tawāzun), تَعَادُل‎ m (taʿādul)
Azerbaijani: tarazlıq (az), müvazinət (az)
Bulgarian: равнове́сие (bg) n (ravnovésie)
Catalan: equilibri (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 平衡 (ping⁴ hang⁴)
Mandarin: 平衡 (zh) (pínghéng)
Min Nan: 平衡 (zh-min-nan) (pêng-hêng, pêⁿ-hêng, pîⁿ-hêng)
Czech: rovnováha (cs) f, ekvilibrium n
Danish: ligevægt c
Dutch: evenwicht (nl) n
Esperanto: ekvilibro (eo)
Estonian: tasakaal (et)
Finnish: tasapaino (fi)
French: équilibre (fr) m
German: Gleichgewicht (de) n, Balance (de) f
Greek: ισορροπία (el) f (isorropía)
Hebrew: אִזּוּן‎ m ('izuun), סימביוזה‎ (he) f (symbyoza)
Hindi: साम्यावस्था (hi) f (sāmyāvasthā)
Hungarian: egyensúly (hu)
Ido: equilibro (io)
Italian: equilibrio (it) m
Japanese: 均衡 (ja) (きんこう, kinkō), バランス (ja) (baransu), 釣り合い (つりあい, tsuriai), 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
Korean: 평형(平衡) (ko) (pyeonghyeong)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھاوسەنگ‎ (ku) (hawseng)
Latin: aequilībrium (la) n
Latvian: līdzsvars m
Malay: keseimbangan (ms)
Maori: ōritetanga, tauritenga
Norwegian: ekvilibrium n, likevekt (no) m
Polish: równowaga (pl) f
Portuguese: equilíbrio (pt) m
Romanian: echilibru (ro) n, stabilitate (ro) f
Russian: равнове́сие (ru) n (ravnovésije), бала́нс (ru) m (baláns)
Scottish Gaelic: co-chothrom m
Spanish: equilibrio (es) m
Swedish: jämvikt (sv) c
Tagalog: katiningan
Turkish: denge (tr), muvazene (tr) (obsolescent)
Ukrainian: рівнова́га f (rivnováha)
Welsh: cydbwysedd m

physics: state of a body at rest or in uniform motion in which the resultant of all forces on it is zero

Bulgarian: равнове́сие (bg) n (ravnovésie)
Catalan: equilibri (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 平衡 (ping⁴ hang⁴)
Mandarin: 平衡 (zh) (pínghéng)
Min Nan: 平衡 (zh-min-nan) (pêng-hêng, pêⁿ-hêng, pîⁿ-hêng)
Czech: rovnováha (cs) f, ekvilibrium n
Danish: ligevægt c
Dutch: evenwicht (nl) n
Estonian: tasakaal (et)
Finnish: tasapaino (fi)
French: équilibre (fr) m
German: Gleichgewicht (de) n
Greek: ισορροπία (el) f (isorropía)
Hebrew: שִׁוּוּי מִּשְׁקָל‎ (he) m (shivvuy mishqal)
Italian: equilibrio (it) m, quiete (it) f
Japanese: 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
Kazakh: тепе-теңдік (tepe-teñdık)
Korean: 평형(平衡) (ko) (pyeonghyeong)
Norwegian: ekvilibrium n, likevekt (no) m
Polish: równowaga (pl) f
Portuguese: equilíbrio (pt) m
Romanian: echilibru (ro) n, stabilitate (ro) f
Russian: равнове́сие (ru) n (ravnovésije)
Spanish: equilibrio (es) m
Tagalog: katiningan
Turkish: denge (tr), muvazene (tr) (obsolescent)

chemistry: state of a reaction in which the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are the same

Bulgarian: равнове́сие (bg) n (ravnovésie)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 平衡 (ping⁴ hang⁴)
Mandarin: 平衡 (zh) (pínghéng)
Min Nan: 平衡 (zh-min-nan) (pêng-hêng, pêⁿ-hêng, pîⁿ-hêng)
Czech: rovnováha (cs) f, ekvilibrium n
Danish: ligevægt c
Estonian: tasakaal (et)
Finnish: tasapaino (fi)
French: équilibre (fr) m
German: Gleichgewicht (de) n
Greek: ισορροπία (el) f (isorropía)
Hebrew: שִׁוּוּי מִּשְׁקָל‎ (he) m (shivvuy mishqal), אִזּוּן‎ m ('izuun)
Italian: equilibrio (it) m
Japanese: 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
Korean: 평형(平衡) (ko) (pyeonghyeong)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھاوسەنگ‎ (ku) (hawseng)
Maori: tauritenga
Norwegian: ekvilibrium n, likevekt (no) m
Polish: równowaga (pl) f
Portuguese: equilíbrio (pt) m
Romanian: echilibru (ro) n
Russian: равнове́сие (ru) n (ravnovésije)
Spanish: equilibrio (es) m
Tagalog: katiningan
Turkish: denge (tr), muvazene (tr) (obsolescent)

mental balance

Bulgarian: равновесие (bg) n (ravnovesie)
Danish: sindsligevægt c
Dutch: evenwicht (nl) n
Estonian: vaimne tasakaal
Finnish: tasapaino (fi)
French: équilibre (fr) m
German: Ausgeglichenheit (de) f
Greek: διανοητική αταραξία f (dianoïtikí ataraxía), ψυχική αταραξία f (psychikí ataraxía), ισορροπία (el) f (isorropía), ηρεμία (el) f (iremía)
Hebrew: אִזּוּן‎ m ('izuun)
Norwegian: sinnslikevekt m
Polish: równowaga psychiczna f
Portuguese: equilíbrio (pt) m
Romanian: echilibru (ro) n, echilibru mintal n (spiritual), ponderație (ro) f
Russian: равнове́сие (ru) n (ravnovésije)
Spanish: equilibrio (es) m
Tagalog: katiningan
Turkish: itidal (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} ekuilibër (sq)
Arabic: ^{(please verify)} تَوَازُن‎ m (tawāzun)
Gulf Arabic: ^{(please verify)} توازن‎ m (tawāzun)
Armenian: ^{(please verify)} հավասարակշռություն (hy) (havasarakšṙutʿyun)
Basque: ^{(please verify)} oreka
Belarusian: ^{(please verify)} раўнава́га f (raŭnaváha), ^{(please verify)} бала́нс m (baláns)
Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} равнове́сие (bg) n (ravnovésie), ^{(please verify)} бала́нс (bg) m (baláns)
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 平衡 (zh) (pínghéng)
Czech: ^{(please verify)} rovnováha (cs) f
Danish: ^{(please verify)} balance c, ^{(please verify)} ligevægt c
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} evenwicht (nl) n, ^{(please verify)} balans (nl) m
Galician: ^{(please verify)} equilibrio m
German: ^{(please verify)} Balance (de) f, ^{(please verify)} Gleichgewicht (de) n
Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} שיווי משקל‎ (he) m (shivúi mishkál), ^{(please verify)} איזון‎ m (izún)
Hindi: ^{(please verify)} संतुलन (hi) m (santulan)
Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 均衡 (ja) (きんこう, kinkō), ^{(please verify)} バランス (ja) (baransu), ^{(please verify)} 釣り合い (つりあい, tsuriai), ^{(please verify)} 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 평형 (ko) (pyeonghyeong)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} terazû (ku), ^{(please verify)} hevsengî (ku), ^{(please verify)} yeksengî (ku), ^{(please verify)} balans (ku), ^{(please verify)} denge (ku)
Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} pusiausvyra (lt) f
Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} рамнотежа f (ramnoteža)
Maori: ^{(please verify)} waikanaetanga
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} balanse (no) m
Ottoman Turkish: ^{(please verify)} ترازو‎ (terazi)
Persian: ^{(please verify)} بالانس‎ (fa) (bâlâns), ^{(please verify)} میزان‎ (fa) (mizân)
Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} equilíbrio (pt)
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} echilibru (ro), ^{(please verify)} cumpăt (ro), ^{(please verify)} balans (ro) n
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} равноте́жа f
Roman: ^{(please verify)} ravnotéža (sh) f
Slovak: ^{(please verify)} rovnováha f
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} ravnotežje (sl) n, ^{(please verify)} ravnovesje n
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} balans (sv) c, ^{(please verify)} jämvikt (sv) c, ^{(please verify)} jämviktsläge (sv) c
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} సమతుల్యత (samatulyata)
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} denge (tr)
Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} рівнова́га f (rivnováha), ^{(please verify)} бала́нс (uk) m (baláns)

References

“equilibrium” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.]

[OED-misc-1] “equilibrium” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.]