equipoise

See also: Equipoise

WOTD – 10 June 2006

English

Alternative forms

• æquipoise (archaic)

Etymology

From equi- +‎ poise.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛkwɪpɔɪz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

equipoise (uncountable)

1. A state of balance; equilibrium.
   • 1794, Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble Lord:

     Government was unnerved, confounded, and in a manner suspended. Its equipoise was totally gone.

   • 1869, T. S. Arthur, chapter IV, in After the Storm:

     “An easy evasion”, retorted the excited bride, who had lost her mental equipoise.

   • 1878, Thomas Hardy, chapter 6, in The Return of the Native:

     The words were not without emotion, and retained their level tone as if by a careful equipoise between imminent extremes.

   • 1927–29, Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part II, Raychandbhai, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai,

     And I saw him thus absorbed in godly pursuits in the midst of business, not once or twice, but very often. I never saw him lose his state of equipoise.

2. A counterbalance.
   • 1911, H. G. Wells, The Cone:

     The cone’s not fixed, it’s hung by a chain from a lever, and balanced by an equipoise.

Derived terms

• clinical equipoise

Translations

state of balance

• Bulgarian: равновесие (bg) n (ravnovesie)
• Dutch: evenwicht (nl) n
• Greek: ισορροπία (el) f (isorropía)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: бала́нс (ru) m (baláns), равнове́сие (ru) n (ravnovésije)
• Spanish: equilibrado (es), balanceado (es)
• Welsh: cydbwysedd m

counterbalance

• Bulgarian: противотежест (bg) f (protivotežest)
• Dutch: tegenwicht (nl) n
• Greek: εξισορρόπηση (el) f (exisorrópisi), αντιστάθμιση (el) f (antistáthmisi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: противовес (ru) (protivoves)
• Spanish: contrapeso (es) m

Verb

equipoise (third-person singular simple present equipoises, present participle equipoising, simple past and past participle equipoised)

1. (transitive) To act or make to act as an equipoise.
2. (transitive) To cause to be or stay in equipoise.

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

act or make to act as equipoise

• Bulgarian: уравновесявам (bg) (uravnovesjavam)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: уравновешивать (ru) impf (uravnovešivatʹ), уравновесить (ru) pf (uravnovesitʹ)

cause to be or stay in balance

• Spanish: balancear (es), equilibrar (es)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}