Equivalence

How to spell equivalence

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce equivalence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does equivalence mean?

1. nounThe condition of being equal in value, force, meaning, or effect.

Equivalence in a sentence

• The contract assumes a rough equivalence between the two currencies.

• The chemistry exam tested whether students understood the equivalence of moles in a balanced reaction.

Where does equivalence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin elements aequus, meaning 'equal' or 'level', and valere, meaning 'to be worth' or 'to be strong'; together the idea is 'being of equal worth'. The Late Latin adjective aequivalens described things that carried the same value or force, and from it grew the noun for that quality. English took the word in through Old French equivalence during the 1400s and 1500s, at first in scholarly and theological argument where two statements or terms were said to amount to the same thing. The same valere root still powers everyday words such as 'value', 'valid', and 'valour', all of which turn on the idea of worth or strength. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle, since the 'va' and the '-lence' both reduce to a faint schwa in speech, so writers must remember the 'i', the single 'l', and the '-ence' rather than '-ance'.

How the word is built

• equi- (equal)
• val (from valere: to be worth)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix denoting a state or quality)