Meanings
nounequality (usually uncountable, plural equalities)
plural equalities · alternative obsolete æquality
- uncountableusuallyThe fact of being equal.
The most powerful of these general ideas which have shaped political development in recent times is of course the ideal of material equality.
1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 425Synonyms: equivalence, parity
- uncountableusuallymathematicsThe fact of being equal, of having the same value.
- uncountableusuallyThe equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences.
Jefferson was talking about the equality of natural human rights. You have freedom, and I have freedom. You and I have equal rights to freedom.
2020 December 12, Ouyang Fei, “The Issue of Equality in the U.S. Election and Its Communist Roots”, in Minghui, archived from the original on 18 Sep 20232 more examples
I think somebody asked me the other day when I was holding a conference over here at the library if a woman could be President of the United States. Well I said they've taken over everything else in the world, why not that? [Laughter] And that wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't happen one of these days because the country believes in equality.
1964 December 13, Harry S. Truman, 8:26 from the start, in MP77-34 KCMO-TV News Segments, 1964-1966, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162Why are women waiting for men — who are the majority of our politicians, justices and judges — to benevolently bestow equality unto us? Here you go, little ladies, welcome to our club, classroom, workplace and C-suite…if you play by our rules.
2023 May 6, Marcie Bianco, “Opinion: For women, it’s past time to give up the ghost of equality”, in CNN, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2023
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe fact of being equal.
Similar
fact of being equal
equal treatment of people
Opposite
societal structure
Opposite
Narrower
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status
Opposite
Broader
nouna state of being essentially equal or equivalent; equally balanced
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinaequālitās, aequālitātem
- Middle Frenchequalité
- Englishequality
Borrowed from Middle French equalité (modern French égalité), from Latin aequālitās, aequālitātem. Doublet of equity. By surface analysis, equal + -ity
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἰσότης, ἰσότης
- ἰσότης (isótēs)fact of being equal
- ἰσότης (isótēs)mathematics: fact of having the same value
Arabic مُسَاوَاة, تَسَاوٍ
- مُسَاوَاة (musāwāh)fact of being equal
- تَسَاوٍ (tasāwin)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- مُسَاوَاة (musāwāh)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Bengali সমতা
- সমতা (śomota)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Bulgarian ра́венство, еднаквост
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)fact of being equal
- еднаквост (ednakvost)fact of being equal
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- равнопра́вие (ravnoprávie)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Catalan igualtat, igualtat
- igualtatfact of being equal
- igualtatequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Chinese Cantonese 平等
- 平等equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Chinese Mandarin 平等, 均等
- 平等 (píngděng)fact of being equal
- 均等 (jūnděng)fact of being equal
- 相等 (xiāngděng)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- 平等 (píngděng)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Czech rovnocennost, rovnost
- rovnocennostfact of being equal
- rovnostfact of being equal
- rovnostequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Danish lighed, ligebehandling
- lighedfact of being equal
- ligebehandlingequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- ligestillingequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Dutch gelijkheid, gelijkheid
- gelijkheidfact of being equal
- gelijkheidmathematics: fact of having the same value
- gelijkberechtigingequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Esperanto egaleco
- egalecofact of being equal
Estonian võrdsus, samaväärsus
- võrdsusequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- samaväärsusequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Finnish yhdenvertaisuus, samanvertaisuus
- yhdenvertaisuusfact of being equal
- samanvertaisuusfact of being equal
- yhtäsuuruusmathematics: fact of having the same value
- tasa-arvoequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- tasa-arvoisuusequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
French égalité, égalité
- égalitéfact of being equal
- égalitémathematics: fact of having the same value
- égalitéequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
German Gleichheit, Gleichheit
- Gleichheitfact of being equal
- Gleichheitmathematics: fact of having the same value
- Gleichberechtigungequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Greek ισότητα, ισότητα
- ισότητα (isótita)fact of being equal
- ισότητα (isótita)mathematics: fact of having the same value
Hebrew שוויון, שִׁוְיוֹן
- שוויוןfact of being equal
- שִׁוְיוֹן (shivyón)fact of being equal
- שוויוןequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- שִׁוְיוֹן (shivyón)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Hindi समानता, समानता
- समानता (samāntā)fact of being equal
- समानता (samāntā)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Hungarian egyenlőség, egyenlőség
- egyenlőségfact of being equal
- egyenlőségmathematics: fact of having the same value
- egyenlőségequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Icelandic jafnrétti
- jafnréttiequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Indonesian kesamaan, kesamaan
- kesamaanfact of being equal
- kesamaanmathematics: fact of having the same value
Irish comhionannas, ionannas
- comhionannasfact of being equal
- ionannasfact of being equal
- comhionannasequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Italian parità, uguaglianza
- paritàfact of being equal
- uguaglianzafact of being equal
- eguaglianzafact of being equal
- egualitàequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- ugualitàequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- uguaglianzaequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- eguaglianzaequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Japanese 平等, 均等
- 平等 (byōdō)fact of being equal
- 均等 (kintō)fact of being equal
- 等式 (tōshiki)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- 平等 (byōdō)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Korean 평등, 균등
- 평등 (pyeongdeung)fact of being equal
- 균등 (gyundeung)fact of being equal
- 이퀄리티 (ikwolliti)fact of being equal
- 등식 (deungsik)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- 평등 (pyeongdeung)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Latin aequitās, aequalitas
- aequitāsfact of being equal
- aequalitasfact of being equal
- aequālitāsequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Latvian vienlīdzība, vienlīdzība
- vienlīdzībafact of being equal
- vienlīdzībaequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Lithuanian lygybė, lygybė
- lygybėfact of being equal
- lygybėequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Malay kesetaraan, kesamaan
- kesetaraanequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- kesamaanequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Māori ōritetanga, mana taurite
- ōritetangafact of being equal
- mana tauriteequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Norwegian Bokmål likhet, likestilling
- likhetfact of being equal
- likestillingequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Polish równość, równość
- równośćfact of being equal
- równośćequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- adekwacjaequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Portuguese igualdade, igualdade
- igualdadefact of being equal
- igualdademathematics: fact of having the same value
- equidadeequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- igualdadeequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Romanian egalitate, egalitate
- egalitatefact of being equal
- egalitateequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Russian ра́венство, ра́венство
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)fact of being equal
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)mathematics: fact of having the same value
- равнопра́вие (ravnoprávije)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- ра́венство (rávenstvo)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Slovak rovnosť, rovnosť
- rovnosťfact of being equal
- rovnosťequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Spanish igualdad, paridad
- igualdadfact of being equal
- paridadmathematics: fact of having the same value
- igualdadmathematics: fact of having the same value
- igualdadequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- paridadequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Swahili usawa, usawa
- usawamathematics: fact of having the same value
- usawaequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Swedish likhet, likabehandling
- likhetmathematics: fact of having the same value
- likabehandlingequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- jämlikhetequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- jämställdhetequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Thai ภาวะเท่ากัน, ความเสมอภาค
- ภาวะเท่ากันmathematics: fact of having the same value
- ความเสมอภาค (kwaam-sà-mə̌ə-pâak)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- ความเท่าเทียม (kwaam-tâo-tiiam)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- สมภาพ (sǒm-má-pâap)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Turkish eşitlik, eşitlik
- eşitlikfact of being equal
- eşitlikequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Ukrainian рі́вність, рі́вність
- рі́вність (rívnistʹ)fact of being equal
- рі́вність (rívnistʹ)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- рівнопра́вність (rivnoprávnistʹ)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
- рівнопра́в'я (rivnoprávʺja)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Urdu مُساوات, بَرابَری
- مُساوات (musāvāt)fact of being equal
- بَرابَری (barābarī)fact of being equal
- یَکسانِیت (yaksānīt)fact of being equal
- مُساوات (musāvāt)equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Vietnamese sự bình đẳng
- sự bình đẳngequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Welsh cydraddoldeb, cydraddoldeb
- cydraddoldebfact of being equal
- cydraddoldebequal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Cite this entry
APA
equality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equality
MLA
“equality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equality. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “equality,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equality.
Source: equality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.