Standard Lemma guide

equation

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈkweɪ.ʒən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-ʃən/ conservative
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ɪˈkweɪ.ʒən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ɪˈkwæɪ.ʒən/
  • New-Zealand: /əˈkwæɪ.ʒən/
  • rhymes with -eɪʒən
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 K W EY1 ZH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of equating two or more things, or the state of those things being equal (that is, identical).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We need to bring the balance of power into equation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: equating

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An assertion that two expressions are equal, expressed by writing the two expressions separated by an equal sign; in mathematical problems, equations describe various essential aspects of the problem, each of which contributes to the resolution of the problem in part.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A small correction to observed values to remove the effects of systematic errors in an observation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the act of regarding as equal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: equating

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: equalization, equalisation, leveling

5

noun

Meaning 5

a mathematical statement that two expressions are equal

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mathematical statement

Narrower terms: regression equation, regression of y on x, linear equation, quadratic equation, quadratic, biquadratic equation, biquadratic, differential equation, simultaneous equations, exponential equation

6

noun

Meaning 6

a state of being essentially equal or equivalent; equally balanced

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • on a par with the best

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: equality, equivalence, par

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: status, position

Narrower terms: egality, egalite, tie

History

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin aequātiō (“an equalizing”). Morphologically equate + -ion

Across languages

Translations

89 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Ausgleich — act or process of equating two or more things, or the state of those things being equal
  • German: Gleichgewicht — act or process of equating two or more things, or the state of those things being equal
  • Afrikaans: vergelyking — mathematics: assertion
  • Albanian: ekuacion — mathematics: assertion
  • Arabic: مُعَادَلَة (muʕādala) — mathematics: assertion
  • Armenian: հավասարում (havasarum) — mathematics: assertion
  • Azerbaijani: tənlik — mathematics: assertion
  • Azerbaijani: təngləxmə — mathematics: assertion
  • Basque: ekuazio — mathematics: assertion
  • Belarusian: раўна́нне (rawnánnje) — mathematics: assertion
  • Bengali: সমীকরণ (śomikron) — mathematics: assertion
  • Bulgarian: уравне́ние (uravnénie) — mathematics: assertion
  • Burmese: ညီမျှခြင်း (nyihmya.hkrang:) — mathematics: assertion
  • Catalan: equació — mathematics: assertion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 方程式 (fāngchéngshì) — mathematics: assertion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 方程 (fāngchéng) — mathematics: assertion
  • Czech: rovnice — mathematics: assertion
  • Danish: ligning — mathematics: assertion
  • Dutch: vergelijking — mathematics: assertion
  • Esperanto: ekvacio — mathematics: assertion
  • Estonian: võrrand — mathematics: assertion
  • Faroese: líkning — mathematics: assertion
  • Finnish: yhtälö — mathematics: assertion
  • French: équation — mathematics: assertion
  • Georgian: გასწორება (gasc̣oreba) — mathematics: assertion
  • German: Gleichung — mathematics: assertion
  • Greek: εξίσωση (exísosi) — mathematics: assertion
  • Greenlandic: assigiissitaq — mathematics: assertion
  • Hebrew: משוואה \ מִשְׁוָאָה (mishva'á) — mathematics: assertion
  • Hindi: समीकरण (samīkraṇ) — mathematics: assertion
  • Hungarian: egyenlet — mathematics: assertion
  • Icelandic: jafna — mathematics: assertion
  • Ido: equaciono — mathematics: assertion
  • Indonesian: persamaan — mathematics: assertion
  • Irish: cothromóid — mathematics: assertion
  • Italian: equazione — mathematics: assertion
  • Japanese: 方程式 (hōteishiki) — mathematics: assertion
  • Kazakh: теңдеу (teñdeu) — mathematics: assertion
  • Khmer: សមីការ (saʼməykaa) — mathematics: assertion
  • Korean: 방정식 (bangjeongsik) — mathematics: assertion
  • Central Kurdish: ھاوکێشە (hawkêşe) — mathematics: assertion
  • Northern Kurdish: hevkêşe — mathematics: assertion
  • Kyrgyz: теңдеме (teŋdeme) — mathematics: assertion
  • Lao: ສົມຜົນ (som phon) — mathematics: assertion
  • Lao: ສົມມະການ (som ma kān) — mathematics: assertion
  • Lao: ສົມການ (som kān) — mathematics: assertion
  • Latin: aequatio — mathematics: assertion
  • Latvian: vienādojums — mathematics: assertion
  • Lithuanian: lygtis — mathematics: assertion
  • Macedonian: равенка (ravenka) — mathematics: assertion
  • Malay: persamaan — mathematics: assertion
  • Malayalam: സമവാക്യം (samavākyaṁ) — mathematics: assertion
  • Māori: whārite — mathematics: assertion
  • Marathi: समीकरण (samīkraṇ) — mathematics: assertion
  • Mongolian: тэгшитгэл (tegšitgel) — mathematics: assertion
  • Neapolitan: equazzione — mathematics: assertion
  • Nepali: समीकरण (samīkaraṇ) — mathematics: assertion
  • Norwegian Bokmål: likning — mathematics: assertion
  • Oromo: qixxaatoo — mathematics: assertion
  • Pashto: معادله (ma'ādela) — mathematics: assertion
  • Persian: معادله (mo'âdele) — mathematics: assertion
  • Polish: równanie — mathematics: assertion
  • Portuguese: equação — mathematics: assertion
  • Quechua: paqtachani — mathematics: assertion
  • Romanian: ecuație — mathematics: assertion
  • Russian: уравне́ние (uravnénije) — mathematics: assertion
  • Serbo-Croatian: једна̀чина — mathematics: assertion
  • Serbo-Croatian: једна̀џба — mathematics: assertion
  • Serbo-Croatian: jednàčina — mathematics: assertion
  • Serbo-Croatian: jednàdžba — mathematics: assertion
  • Slovak: rovnica — mathematics: assertion
  • Slovene: enačba — mathematics: assertion
  • Spanish: ecuación — mathematics: assertion
  • Swahili: mlinganyo — mathematics: assertion
  • Swedish: ekvation — mathematics: assertion
  • Tagalog: tumbasan — mathematics: assertion
  • Tajik: муодила (muodila) — mathematics: assertion
  • Tamil: சமன்பாடு (camaṉpāṭu) — mathematics: assertion
  • Tatar: тигезләмә (tigezlämä) — mathematics: assertion
  • Thai: สมการ (sà-má-gaan) — mathematics: assertion
  • Turkish: denklem — mathematics: assertion
  • Ukrainian: рівня́ння (rivnjánnja) — mathematics: assertion
  • Urdu: مساوات (musāvāt) — mathematics: assertion
  • Uyghur: تەڭلىمە (tenglime) — mathematics: assertion
  • Uzbek: tenglama — mathematics: assertion
  • Vietnamese: phương trình — mathematics: assertion
  • Yiddish: גלייכונג (gleykhung) — mathematics: assertion
  • French: équation — astronomy: correction
  • Hungarian: kiegyenlítés — astronomy: correction
Real reading context

equation in complete knowledge articles