Egalitarian

How to spell egalitarian

11 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce egalitarian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does egalitarian mean?

1. adjectiveBelieving in or relating to the principle that all people deserve equal rights, status, and opportunities.
2. nounA person who advocates equal rights and opportunities for everyone.

Egalitarian in a sentence

• adjective

  The company prides itself on an egalitarian pay structure across all departments.

• noun

  As a committed egalitarian, she campaigned for equal access to healthcare.

• adjective

  Their egalitarian approach to parenting split the household chores evenly.

• noun

  The senator was known as an egalitarian who fought for fair wages.

Where does egalitarian come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the French égalitaire, which was coined from égalité, the French noun for 'equality'. That French word traces back to the Latin aequalitas, built on aequalis meaning 'equal' or 'even', from aequus, which literally meant 'level' or 'flat' (the same root that gives us 'equal', 'equate', and 'equator'). The political flavour of égalité was sharpened by the French Revolution, whose famous slogan paired it with liberté and fraternité, and English speakers adopted 'egalitarian' in the early 1800s to describe people and ideas committed to treating everyone as equals. The tricky 'egal' opening preserves the French spelling of égal rather than the English 'equal', which is exactly why writers are tempted to insert a 'qu'. Remembering that it sits in the same family as 'equality' helps, but the spelling keeps the older 'g' from its French parent.

How the word is built

• egal- (from French égal: equal, ultimately Latin aequalis)
• -itarian (forming adjectives/nouns denoting a belief or advocate)