inequality

English

Alternative forms

• inæquality (archaic, rare)

Etymology

From Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequalitas, from inaequalis (“unequal”), from in- (“not”) + aequalis (“equal”).

Noun

inequality (countable and uncountable, plural inequalities)

1. An unfair, not equal, state.
   • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly^[1], volume 188, number 23, page 19:

     In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]   The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.

   The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have nots rebelled.

2. (mathematics) A statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: $<$ or $\leq$ or $>$ or $\geq$ or $\neq$, as appropriate.

   The inequality $x$ is less than $y$, together with that $y<z$, allows us to deduce the inequality $x<z$.

Synonyms

• (statement in mathematics): inequation

See also

• ≠

Hyponyms

• Cauchy-Schwarz inequality
• triangle inequality

Translations

unfair, not equal, state

• Asturian: desigualdá f
• Catalan: desigualtat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不平等 (zh) (bùpíngděng)

• Czech: nerovnost f
• Danish: ulighed c
• Dutch: ongelijkheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: malegaleco
• Finnish: epätasa-arvo
• French: inégalité (fr) f
• Galician: desigualdade (gl) f

• German: Ungleichheit (de) f
• Greek: ανισότητα (el) f (anisótita)
• Japanese: 不平等 (ふびょうどう, fubyōdō)
• Malay: ketidaksamaan
• Portuguese: desigualdade (pt)
• Romanian: inegalitate (ro)
• Russian: нера́венство (ru) n (nerávenstvo)
• Spanish: desigualdad (es) f
• Swedish: ojämlikhet (sv) c
• Welsh: anghydraddoldeb f

statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another

• Catalan: desigualtat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不等式 (zh) (bùděngshì)

• Czech: nerovnice f
• Danish: ulighed c
• Dutch: ongelijkheid (nl)
• Finnish: erisuuruus (fi)
• French: inéquation (fr) f
• German: Ungleichung (de) f
• Greek: ανισότητα (el) f (anisótita)

• Icelandic: ójafna f
• Italian: disequazione (it) f disuguaglianza (it) f
• Japanese: 不等式 (ja) (ふとうしき, futōshiki)
• Polish: nierówność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inequação (pt) f
• Romanian: inecuație (ro) f
• Russian: нера́венство (ru) n (nerávenstvo)
• Spanish: inecuación f
• Swedish: olikhet (sv) c
• Vietnamese: bất đẳng thức (vi)