equality

English

Alternative forms

• æquality (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French equalité (modern French égalité), from Latin aequālitās, aequālitātem. Doublet of equity. By surface analysis, equal +‎ -ity

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkwɒl.ɪ.ti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ĭʹkwŏ-lĭ-tē IPA^(key): /ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/, [ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ɾi]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

equality (usually uncountable, plural equalities)

1. The fact of being equal.
   • 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 425:

     The most powerful of these general ideas which have shaped political development in recent times is of course the ideal of material equality.

2. (mathematics) The fact of being equal, of having the same value. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. The equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences.
   • 1964 December 13, Harry S. Truman, 8:26 from the start, in MP77-34 KCMO-TV News Segments, 1964-1966‎^[1], Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:

     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.

   • 2020 December 12, Ouyang Fei, “The Issue of Equality in the U.S. Election and Its Communist Roots”, in Minghui‎^[2], archived from the original on 18 September 2023:

     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.

   • 2023 May 6, Marcie Bianco, “Opinion: For women, it’s past time to give up the ghost of equality”, in CNN‎^[3], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 1 June 2023:

     Why 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.

Synonyms

• (fact of being equal): equivalence, parity

Antonyms

• (fact of being equal): difference, inequality, nonequivalence
• (equal treatment of people): discrimination, inequality
• (societal structure): pecking order, hierarchy, inequality

Derived terms

• antiequality
• coequality
• comparative of equality
• disequality
• equalitarian
• equality money
• equality of arms
• equality sign
• marriage equality
• nonequality
• strict equality
• unequality

Translations

fact of being equal

• Albanian: njëjësi (sq) f
• Amharic: እኩልነት (ʾəkulnät)
• Arabic: مُسَاوَاة f (musāwāh)

  Gulf Arabic: مساواة (mʊsawat, mʊsawa)

• Armenian: հավասարություն (hy) (havasarutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: bərabərlik
• Belarusian: ро́ўнасць f (równascʹ), ро́ўнасьць f (równasʹcʹ)
• Bulgarian: ра́венство (bg) n (rávenstvo), еднаквост (bg) f (ednakvost)
• Burmese: ညီမျှခြင်း (my) (nyihmya.hkrang:)
• Catalan: igualtat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平等 (zh) (píngděng), 均等 (zh) (jūnděng)

• Czech: rovnocennost f, rovnost (cs) f
• Danish: lighed (da) c
• Dutch: gelijkheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: egaleco
• Finnish: yhdenvertaisuus (fi), samanvertaisuus
• French: égalité (fr) f
• Galician: igualdade (gl) f
• Georgian: თანასწორობა (tanasc̣oroba)
• German: Gleichheit (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌹𐌱𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 m (ibnassus)
• Greek: ισότητα (el) f (isótita)

  Ancient Greek: ἰσότης f (isótēs)

• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} tekojoja

• Hebrew: שוויון / שִׁוְיוֹן m (shivyón)
• Hindi: समानता (hi) f (samāntā)
• Hungarian: egyenlőség (hu)
• Ido: egaleso (io)
• Ilocano: arked
• Indonesian: kesamaan (id)
• Irish: comhionannas m, ionannas m
• Italian: parità (it) f, uguaglianza (it) f, eguaglianza f
• Japanese: 平等 (ja) (びょうどう, byōdō), 均等 (ja) (きんとう, kintō)
• Khmer: យុគភាព (yukphiəp)
• Korean: 평등(平等) (ko) (pyeongdeung), 균등(均等) (ko) (gyundeung), 이퀄리티 (ikwolliti)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: wekhevî (ku) f, yeksanî (ku) f

• Latin: aequitās f, aequalitas f
• Latvian: vienlīdzība (lv) f
• Lithuanian: lygybė f
• Macedonian: еднаквост f (ednakvost)
• Malayalam: തുല്യത (ml) (tulyata)
• Māori: ōritetanga
• Neapolitan: eguaglianza f
• Norman: êgalité f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: likhet (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: likskap m

• Occitan: egalitat (oc) f
• Old English: efnlīcnes f
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بَرابَری (fa) (barâbari), مُساوات (fa) (mosâvât)

• Plautdietsch: Äwareenheit f
• Polish: równość (pl) f
• Portuguese: igualdade (pt) f
• Romanian: egalitate (ro)
• Russian: ра́венство (ru) n (rávenstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: једна́ко̄ст f

  Latin: jednákōst (sh) f

• Slovak: rovnosť f
• Slovene: enakost f
• Spanish: igualdad (es) f
• Tajik: баробарӣ (barobari), мусовот (musovot)
• Turkish: eşitlik (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: استوا (istiva)

• Ukrainian: рі́вність f (rívnistʹ)
• Urdu: مُساوات f (musāvāt), بَرابَری f (barābarī), یَکسانِیت f (yaksānīt)
• Uzbek: tenglik (uz), baravarlik (uz)
• Welsh: cydraddoldeb f

mathematics: fact of having the same value

• Arabic: تَسَاوٍ m (tasāwin)
• Armenian: հավասարություն (hy) (havasarutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: bərabərlik
• Bulgarian: ра́венство (bg) n (rávenstvo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 相等 (zh) (xiāngděng)

• Dutch: gelijkheid (nl) f
• Finnish: yhtäsuuruus (fi)
• French: égalité (fr) f
• Galician: igualdade (gl) f
• German: Gleichheit (de) f
• Greek: ισότητα (el) f (isótita)

  Ancient Greek: ἰσότης f (isótēs)

• Hungarian: egyenlőség (hu)
• Indonesian: kesamaan (id)
• Japanese: 等式 (ja) (とうしき, tōshiki)
• Korean: 등식(等式) (ko) (deungsik)
• Macedonian: равенство n (ravenstvo)
• Old English: ġelīcnes f, efnlīcnes f
• Portuguese: igualdade (pt) f
• Russian: ра́венство (ru) n (rávenstvo)
• Spanish: paridad (es) f, igualdad (es) f
• Swahili: usawa (sw)
• Swedish: likhet (sv) c
• Thai: ภาวะเท่ากัน

equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences

• Albanian: barazi (sq) f
• Amharic: እኩልነት (ʾəkulnät)
• Arabic: مُسَاوَاة f (musāwāh)
• Armenian: հավասարություն (hy) (havasarutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: bərabərlik
• Belarusian: ро́ўнасць f (równascʹ), ро́ўнасьць f (równasʹcʹ), раўнапра́ўе n (rawnapráwje), раўнапра́ўнасць f (rawnapráwnascʹ), раўнапра́ўнасьць f (rawnapráwnasʹcʹ)
• Bengali: সমতা (bn) (śomota)
• Bulgarian: равнопра́вие (bg) n (ravnoprávie), ра́венство (bg) n (rávenstvo)
• Burmese: တန်းတူညီမျှမှု (tan:tu-nyihmya.hmu.)
• Catalan: igualtat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 平等 (ping⁴ dang²)

  Mandarin: 平等 (zh) (píngděng)

• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: usawa class 11

• Czech: rovnost (cs) f
• Danish: ligebehandling c, ligestilling c
• Dutch: gelijkberechtiging (nl) f
• Estonian: võrdsus, samaväärsus
• Finnish: tasa-arvo (fi), tasa-arvoisuus (fi)
• French: égalité (fr) f
• Galician: igualdade (gl) f
• Georgian: თანასწორობა (tanasc̣oroba)
• German: Gleichberechtigung (de) f
• Hebrew: שוויון / שִׁוְיוֹן m (shivyón)
• Hindi: समानता (hi) f (samāntā)
• Hungarian: egyenlőség (hu)
• Icelandic: jafnrétti (is) n
• Irish: comhionannas m
• Italian: egualità f, ugualità f, uguaglianza (it) f, eguaglianza
• Japanese: 平等 (ja) (びょうどう, byōdō)
• Kazakh: теңдік (teŋdik)
• Khmer: សមភាព (saʼmaʼphiəp)
• Korean: 평등(平等) (ko) (pyeongdeung)
• Kyrgyz: теңдик (ky) (teŋdik)
• Lao: ຄວາມສະເໝີພາບ (khuām sa mœ̄ phāp)
• Latin: aequālitās f
• Latvian: vienlīdzība (lv) f
• Lithuanian: lygybė f
• Macedonian: рамнопра́вност f (ramnoprávnost), еднаквост f (ednakvost)
• Malay: kesetaraan, kesamaan (ms)
• Malayalam: സമത്വം (ml) (samatvaṁ)
• Maltese: ugwaljanza f
• Māori: mana taurite
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: тэгш байдал (tegš baidal)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: likestilling m or f

  Nynorsk: likestilling f

• Old English: ġelīcnes f, efenlīcnes f
• Pashto: مساوات m (musāwāt), برابري (ps) f (barābari)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بَرابَری (fa) (barâbari), مُساوات (fa) (mosâvât)

• Polish: równość (pl) f, adekwacja f (literary)
• Portuguese: equidade (pt) f, igualdade (pt) f
• Romanian: egalitate (ro) f
• Russian: равнопра́вие (ru) n (ravnoprávije), ра́венство (ru) n (rávenstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: равнопра́вно̄ст f, једна́ко̄ст f

  Latin: ravnoprávnōst (sh) f, jednákōst (sh) f

• Slovak: rovnosť f
• Slovene: enakopravnost f, enakost f
• Spanish: igualdad (es) f, paridad (es) f
• Swahili: usawa (sw)
• Swedish: likabehandling (sv) c, jämlikhet (sv) c, jämställdhet (sv) c
• Tajik: баробарӣ (barobari), мусовот (musovot)
• Tatar: тигезлек (tt) (tigezlek)
• Thai: ความเสมอภาค (th) (kwaam-sà-mə̌ə-pâak), ความเท่าเทียม (th) (kwaam-tâo-tiiam), สมภาพ (sǒm-má-pâap)
• Turkish: eşitlik (tr)
• Turkmen: deňlik
• Ukrainian: рі́вність f (rívnistʹ), рівнопра́вність f (rivnoprávnistʹ) (equal rights), рівнопра́в'я n (rivnoprávʺja)
• Urdu: مُساوات f (musāvāt)
• Uyghur: تەڭلىك (tenglik)
• Uzbek: tenglik (uz)
• Vietnamese: sự bình đẳng (vi)
• Welsh: cydraddoldeb f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} uguaglianza (it) f
• Swedish: jämlikhet (sv)

See also

(social, legal):

• equity
• fairness (fairness is not always equality, but some inequality is unfair)

References

• “equality”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• equality in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• Raymond Williams (1983), “Equality”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 117.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “equality”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.