equilibrium

See also: Equilibrium

English

Alternative forms

• æquilibrium (dated)

Etymology

From Latin æquilībrium, from æquus (“equal”) + lībra (“balance”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛkwɪˈlɪbɹɪəm/, /iːkwɪˈlɪbɹɪəm/

Noun

equilibrium (plural equilibriums or equilibria)

1. The condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced, resulting in no net change.
   • 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.

2. (physics) The state of a body at rest or in uniform motion in which the resultant of all forces on it is zero.
3. (chemistry) The state of a reaction in which the rates of the forward and reverse reactions are the same.
4. Mental balance.

Synonyms

• (a condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced): balance, stability
• (mental balance): sanity

Antonyms

• (a condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced): disequilibrium, imbalance, instability
• (in physics): disequilibrium, non-equilibrium
• (mental balance): insanity, instability, madness

Hypernyms

• (in physics): stasis

Hyponyms

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

Derived terms

Terms derived from equilibri(um)

• disequilibrium
• dynamic equilibrium
• equilibrist
• Nash equilibrium

• neutral equilibrium
• stable equilibrium
• static equilibrium
• unstable equilibrium

Related terms

• equilibrate
• equilibrize

Translations

condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced

• Bulgarian: равновесие (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)
• Hindi: साम्यावस्था (hi) f (sāmyāvasthā)
• 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 (ko) (pyeonghyeong) (平衡 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هاوسه‌نگ‎‎ (hawseng)

• Maori: ōritetanga
• 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
• Ukrainian: рівновага f (rivnováha)

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

• Bulgarian: равновесие (bg) n (ravnovesie)
• 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)
• Estonian: tasakaal (et)
• Finnish: tasapaino (fi)
• French: équilibre (fr) m
• German: Gleichgewicht (de) n

• Greek: ισορροπία [iso̞ro̞ˈpiˌa] f
• Italian: equilibrio (it) m
• Japanese: 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
• Korean: 평형 (ko) (pyeonghyeong) (平衡 (ko))
• 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

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

• Bulgarian: равновесие (bg) n (ravnovesie)
• 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 [iso̞ro̞ˈpiˌa] f

• Italian: equilibrio (it) m
• Japanese: 平衡 (ja) (へいこう, heikō)
• Korean: 평형 (ko) (pyeonghyeong) (平衡 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هاوسه‌نگ‎‎ (hawseng)

• 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

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 or ψυχική αταραξία [ataraˈk͡siˌa] / ισορροπία [iso̞ro̞ˈpiˌa] / ηρεμία [ire̞ˈmiˌa] (meaning: mental or psychic equanimity / balance / tranquillity) f

• 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