equivalent

American  

[ih-kwiv-uh-luhnt, ee-kwuh-vay-luhnt] / ɪˈkwɪv ə lənt, ˌi kwəˈveɪ lənt /

adjective

1. 

   equal in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc..

   His silence is equivalent to an admission of guilt.

2. corresponding in position, function, etc..

   In some ways their prime minister is equivalent to our president.

3. Geometry. having the same extent, as a triangle and a square of equal area.

4. Mathematics. (of two sets) able to be placed in one-to-one correspondence.

5. Chemistry. having the same capacity to combine or react chemically.

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noun

• equivalents
  plural

1. something that is equivalent.

equivalent British  

/ ɪˈkwɪvələnt /

adjective

1. equal or interchangeable in value, quantity, significance, etc

2. having the same or a similar effect or meaning

3. maths

   1. having a particular property in common; equal

   2. (of two equations or inequalities) having the same set of solutions

   3. (of two sets) having the same cardinal number

4. maths logic (of two propositions) having an equivalence between them

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noun

1. something that is equivalent

2. short for equivalent weight

equivalent Scientific  

/ ĭ-kwĭv′ə-lənt /

1. Equal, as in value, meaning, or force.

2. 1. Of or relating to a relation between two elements that is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive.

   2. Having a one-to-one correspondence, as between parts. Two triangles having the same area are equivalent, as are two congruent geometric figures.

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Synonym Usage

See equal.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonequivalent
  adjective
• quasi-equivalent
  adjective
• superequivalent
  adjective
• unequivalent
  adjective
• equivalently
  adverb
• nonequivalently
  adverb
• quasi-equivalently
  adverb
• unequivalently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• equivalents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of equivalent

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Late Latin aequivalent- (stem of aequivalēns ), present participle of aequivalēre. See equi-, -valent

Explanation

If two things are basically the same, you can say that they're the equivalent of each other. Like, studying advanced physics is the equivalent of banging your head against the wall. Equivalent's Latin roots are "equal" and "value," which suggests that the word originally was used to describe things that had the same value. Now it can be used to describe things that have the same effect, or importance, or role — for example, "England's Parliament is the equivalent of America's Congress." It can also be used as an adjective: "Eating a bowl of Sugar Pops for breakfast is equivalent to starting your day with two scoops of ice-cream."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equivalent equivalents

Around 10-15% of people with stage two or three bowel cancer have this genetic make-up, equivalent to roughly 2,000-3,000 cases each year in the UK.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

On videos broadcast from there, employees sell Veet hair removal cream, Lysol’s international equivalent Dettol and other Reckitt goods on China’s popular social-media platforms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

When a child is adopted in the UK, their NHS number - or equivalent health service identifier - is changed to protect their anonymity.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

GDP in 1913 — which was $39.5 billion, according to Measuring Worth — Rockefeller’s wealth comprised 2.3% of total national output, or the equivalent of roughly $742 billion in today’s economy.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

But he became more than a household name, more than the equivalent of a pop star.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Chief Executive Kris Licht figured they were talking about China’s equivalents of Amazon.com and Walmart+.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

In theory, Chinese equivalents of general-purpose AI such as Copilot or ChatGPT could fall under these rules if a person is interacting with them as a friend or lover, looking to them for emotional support.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Store-brand equivalents for cold medications, like Nyquil, often placed next to the original, got good enough and similar enough that shoppers often didn’t even make a distinction between the two.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Yields on U.K. government bonds fell, tracking their U.S. equivalents, as market focus was on the U.S. inflation data due on Thursday and Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Meandering, non-narrative prose or poetry, like musical symphonies, would not find their literary equivalents until James Joyce’s Ulysses or T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, both published in 1922.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• commensurate
• comparable
• corresponding
• equal
• identical
• proportionate
• tantamount