equivalent

Definition

Similar or identical in value, meaning or effect; virtually equal.

Etymology

From Latin aequivalentem, accusative singular of aequivalēns, present active participle of aequivaleō (“I am equivalent, have equal power”). By surface analysis, equi- + -valent.

Example Sentences

• "To burn calories, a thirty-minute jog is equivalent to a couple of hamburgers."
• "For now to serve and to minister, servile and ministerial, are terms equivalent."
• "A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place. Applying a force tangential to the knob is essentially equivalent to applying one perpendicular to a radial line defining the lever."