punto di equilibrio

Italian

Alternative forms

• punto d'equilibrio

Etymology

Literally, “point of equilibrium”.

Noun

punto di equilibrio m (plural punti di equilibrio)

1. (mathematics) equilibrium point
2. (economics) crossover point
3. (figurative) balance
   • 2007, David Foster Wallace, “La persona depressa [The Depressed Person]”, in Ottavio Fatica, Giovanna Granato, transl., Brevi interviste con uomini schifosi [Brief Interviews with Hideous Men], Einaudi:

     La mezza dozzina circa di membri a rotazione di questo Sistema di Sostegno in linea di massima erano... conoscenze che risalivano all'infanzia della persona depressa... che per lo più chiamava la sera tardi, in interurbana, in cerca di esternazione e sostegno e di una manciata di parole ben calibrate che l'aiutassero a inquadrare in una prospettiva realistica la disperazione della giornata e a trovare un punto di equilibrio e a raccogliere le forze per affrontare l'angoscia emotiva del giorno dopo...

     The approximately half-dozen friends... referred to as the depressed person's Support System tended to be... female acquaintances from childhood... and whom she called late in the evening, long-distance, for badly needed sharing and support and just a few well-chosen words to help her get some realistic perspective on the day's despair and get centered and gather together the strength to fight through the emotional agony of the next day...

     (literally, “The roughtly half dozen members in rotation of this System of Support were generally... acquaintances who dated back to the depressed person's childhood... whom she mostly called late at night, long-distance, in search of outpourings and the support of a handful of well-calibrated words that would help her to frame in a realistic perspective the desperation of the day and to find a balance and to gather the forces to confront the emotional agony of the next day...”)