inequality
English
Alternative forms
- inæquality (archaic, rare)
Etymology
From Middle English inequalite, from Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequālitās, from Latin inaequālis (“unequal”), from in- (“not”) + aequālis (“equal”).
Morphologically inequal + -ity and in- + equality.
Pronunciation
- enPR: ĭnĭkwŏl'ĭtē, IPA(key): /ˌɪnɪˈkwɒlɪti/
Noun
inequality (countable and uncountable, plural inequalities)
- An unfair, not equal, state.
- 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
- In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
- The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have nots rebelled.
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- (mathematics) A statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: or or or or , as appropriate.
- The inequality is less than , together with that , allows us to deduce the inequality .
Synonyms
- (statement in mathematics): inequation
Hyponyms
- Cauchy-Schwarz inequality
- triangle inequality
Translations
unfair, not equal, state
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statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
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See also
- ≠