balance
English Edit
Alternative forms Edit
- balaunce (obsolete)
Etymology Edit
PIE word |
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*dwóh₁ |
From Middle English balaunce, from Old French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia, from (accusative form of) Latin bilanx (“two-scaled”), from bi- + lanx (“plate, scale”).
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
balance (countable and uncountable, plural balances)
- (uncountable) A state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 196:
- But civilized man is quite a different animal, and when he wipes out an entire city or levels a forest, he is no longer working within the natural balance of things.
- (uncountable) Mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed.
- (literally or figurative) Something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium; counterweight.
- These weights are used as a balance for the overhanging verandah
- Blair thought he could provide a useful balance to Bush's policies.
- A pair of scales.
- (uncountable) Awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity.
- (uncountable) The overall result of conflicting forces, opinions etc.; the influence which ultimately "weighs" more than others.
- The balance of power finally lay with the Royalist forces.
- I think the balance of opinion is that we should get out while we're ahead.
- 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian[1]:
- The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.
- (uncountable) Apparent harmony in art (between differing colours, sounds, etc.).
- (accounting) A list accounting for the debits on one side, and for the credits on the other.
- (accounting) The result of such a procedure; the difference between credit and debit of an account.
- I just need to nip to a bank and check my balance.
- (watchmaking) A device used to regulate the speed of a watch, clock etc.
- (law, business) The remainder.
- The balance of the agreement remains in effect.
- The invoice said he had only paid $50. The balance was $220.
- (obsolete, astrology) Libra.
Synonyms Edit
- (scales): pair of scales, set of scales, scales, weighing machine, weighbridge (for vehicles)
- (equilibrium): equilibrium
- (support for both viewpoints): disinterest, even-handedness, fairness, impartiality, neutrality, nonpartisanship
- (list of credits and debits): account
Antonyms Edit
- (equilibrium): nonequilibrium, imbalance, unbalance
- (support for both viewpoints): bias, favor/favour, partiality, partisanship, prejudice, unfairness
Derived terms Edit
- acro-balance
- balance beam
- balance bicycle, b. bike
- balance board
- balance dock
- balance of nature
- balance of power
- balance of probabilities
- balance of probability
- balance of terror
- balance room
- balance weight, b.weight
- balance wheel
- basic balance
- check and balance
- chemical balance
- color balance
- compensation balance
- detailed balance
- hydrostatic balance
- letter balance
- nitrogen balance
- power balance
- radiative balance
- Roberval balance
- Roman balance
- spring balance
- symmetrical balance
- torsion balance
- trial balance
- work-life balance
Translations Edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb Edit
balance (third-person singular simple present balances, present participle balancing, simple past and past participle balanced)
- (transitive) To bring (items) to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights.
- (transitive, figurative) To make (concepts) agree.
- 2014', Peter Melville Logan, Olakunle George, Susan Hegeman, The Encyclopedia of the Novel
- the Proteus Principle helps to qualify and balance the concepts of narrators and of narrative situations as previously developed in classical studies by G erard Genette and Franz Stanzel.
- 2014', Peter Melville Logan, Olakunle George, Susan Hegeman, The Encyclopedia of the Novel
- (transitive) To hold (an object or objects) precariously; to support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling.
- I balanced my mug of coffee on my knee.
- The circus performer balances a plate on the end of a baton.
- (transitive) To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to estimate.
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
- Ballance the Good and Evil of Things.
- 1941 September, Charles E. Lee, “Sheltering in London Tube Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 389:
- Mr. Morrison's ruling to reopen the station as a shelter was given after he had balanced the relative dangers of flooding and bombing.
- (transitive, dance) To move toward, and then back from, reciprocally.
- to balance partners
- (nautical) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass.
- to balance the boom mainsail
- (transitive) To make the credits and debits of (an account) correspond.
- This final payment, or credit, balances the account.
- to balance a set of books
- 1712 December 10 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, Richard Steele [et al.], “SATURDAY, November 29, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 549; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
- I am very well satisfied that it is not in my power to balance accounts with my Maker.
- (intransitive) To be in equilibrium.
- (intransitive) To have matching credits and debits.
- (transitive, obsolete) To weigh in a balance.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To hesitate or fluctuate.
Conjugation Edit
infinitive | (to) balance | ||
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present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | balance | balanced | |
2nd-person singular | balance, balancest† | balanced, balancedst† | |
3rd-person singular | balances, balanceth† | balanced | |
plural | balance | ||
subjunctive | balance | balanced | |
imperative | balance | — | |
participles | balancing | balanced |
Derived terms Edit
Translations Edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Anagrams Edit
French Edit
Etymology Edit
Inherited from Middle French balance, from Old French balance, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx, from bi- (see Latin bis) and lanx.
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
balance f (plural balances)
- scales (clarification of this definition is needed)
- (chemistry, physics) balance (clarification of this definition is needed)
- (economics, electricity, politics) balance (clarification of this definition is needed)
- (fishing) drop-net
- (slang) informant, snitch
- (Louisiana) the rest, the remainder
- (Louisiana) a scale, more specifically a balancing scale
Derived terms Edit
Related terms Edit
Descendants Edit
Verb Edit
balance
- inflection of balancer:
Further reading Edit
- “balance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams Edit
Latin Edit
Noun Edit
balance
Middle English Edit
Noun Edit
balance
- Alternative form of balaunce
Middle French Edit
Alternative forms Edit
Etymology Edit
From Old French balance, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx.
Noun Edit
balance f (plural balances)
- scales (weighing scales)
- (figurative) arbitrator
Descendants Edit
- French: balance
References Edit
- balance on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Old French Edit
Etymology Edit
From Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx.
Noun Edit
balance f (oblique plural balances, nominative singular balance, nominative plural balances)
- scales (weighing scales)
Descendants Edit
- Middle French: balance, ballance, balanche, balence
- French: balance
- Norman: balanche
- → Middle English: balaunce, ballaunce, balance, balaunse, balans, belaunce
References Edit
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (balance)
Portuguese Edit
Verb Edit
balance
- inflection of balançar:
Spanish Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia.
Pronunciation Edit
- IPA(key): (Spain) /baˈlanθe/ [baˈlãn̟.θe]
- IPA(key): (Latin America) /baˈlanse/ [baˈlãn.se]
- (Spain) Rhymes: -anθe
- (Latin America) Rhymes: -anse
- Syllabification: ba‧lan‧ce
Noun Edit
balance m (plural balances)
- (accounting) balance
- Synonym: saldo
- balance; weighing up
- 1988, Mecano, Un año más (written by Nacho Cano)
- Cinco minutos màs para la cuenta atrás
Hacemos el balance de lo bueno y malo- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1988, Mecano, Un año más (written by Nacho Cano)
Further reading Edit
- “balance”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014