adequate

English

Alternative forms

• adæquate (archaic)

Etymology

Latin adaequatus, past participle of adaequare (“to make equal to”); ad + aequare (“to make equal”), aequus (“equal”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˈæd.ʌ.kwɪt/

Adjective

adequate (comparative more adequate, superlative most adequate)

1. Equal to some requirement; proportionate, or correspondent; fully sufficient; as, powers adequate to a great work; an adequate definition lawfully and physically sufficient.
   • All day, as I drove upon my round, I turned over the case in my mind and found no explanation which appeared to me to be adequate. —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Adventure of the Empty House

Antonyms

• inadequate

Translations

equal to some requirement

• Arabic: كاف (ar) (kāf)
• Bulgarian: адекватен (bg) (adekvaten), съответен (bg) (sǎotveten), съразмерен (bg) (sǎrazmeren)
• Catalan: adequat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 適當 (cmn), 适当 (cmn) (shìdàng), 足夠 (cmn), 足够 (cmn) (zúgòu) (sufficient)

• Czech: přiměřený (cs), odpovídající (cs), adekvátní (cs)
• Danish: tilstrækkelig (da)
• Dutch: adequaat (nl), voldoende (nl), deugdelijk (nl)
• Finnish: riittävä (fi)
• French: adéquat (fr)
• German: angemessen (de), adäquat (de)
• Greek: αρκετός (el) (arketós)
• Hungarian: adekvát (hu), megfelelő (hu)
• Italian: adeguato (it)

• Japanese: 適当 (ja) (てきとう, tekitō), 適切 (ja) (てきせつ, tekisetsu), 十分 (ja) (じゅうぶん, jūbun) (sufficient)
• Korean: 충분한 (ko) (chungbunhan)
• Macedonian: соодветен (mk) (soódveten), адекватен (mk) (adekváten)
• Norwegian: adekvat (no), tilstrekkelig (no)
• Polish: adekwatny (pl), odpowiedni (pl)
• Portuguese: adequado (pt)
• Russian: адекватный (ru) (adɛkvátnyj), соответствующий (ru) (sootvétstvujuščij), подходящий (ru) (podxodjáščij), соразмерный (ru) (sorazmérnyj), достаточный (ru) (dostátočnyj) (sufficient)
• Spanish: adecuado (es)
• Swedish: adekvat (sv), tillämplig (sv)
• Turkish: yeterli (tr), uygun (tr)
• Vietnamese: đủ (vi), đầy đủ (vi)

Verb

adequate (third-person singular simple present adequates, present participle adequating, simple past and past participle adequated)

1. (obsolete) To equalize; to make adequate.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Fotherby to this entry?)

2. (obsolete) To equal.

   It [is] an impossibility for any creature to adequate God in his eternity. — Shelford.