Meanings
- rareuncountablemathematicsA technique for simplifying mental approximations by reducing each number to one significant figure followed by zeroes.
Zequals is a fun way of ruthlessly rounding numbers so that every number you deal with becomes simple. Using Zequals, whenever you encounter a number, you immediately round it to a single digit followed by zeroes (if it's bigger than ten).
2016, Rob Eastaway, Mike Askew, Maths on the Go: 101 Fun Ways to Play with Maths, page 31
- raremathematicsIs equal to, after performing such a reduction.
Using Zequals, whenever you encounter a number, you immediately round it to a single digit followed by zeroes (if it's bigger than ten). So for example: 18 zequals 20. 142 zequals 100. 2.3 zequals 2.
2016, Rob Eastaway, Mike Askew, Maths on the Go: 101 Fun Ways to Play with Maths, page 31
Origin
Coined in 2013 by English author Rob Eastaway, from equals. Eastaway wrote that "the Z is for Zeroes, and also for the ZigZagness of the symbol".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
zequals. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zequals
“zequals.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zequals. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zequals,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zequals.
Source: zequals on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.