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Permanent link for this word: equipoise

Jul 14, 2010

This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
paean
mephitic
equipoise
risible
folderol

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

equipoise

PRONUNCIATION:

(EE-kwuh-poiz, EK-wuh-)

MEANING:

noun: 1. A state of balance. 2. Something that serves as a counterbalance.
verb tr.: To counterbalance.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin aequi- (equal) + Old French pois (weight), from Latin pendere (to weigh). Ultimately from the Indo-European root (s)pen- (to draw, to spin), which is also the source of pendulum, spider, pound, pansy, pendant, ponder, appendix, penthouse, depend, and spontaneous.

USAGE:

"In his [Denzel Washington's] luminous portrait, dignity and destructiveness find a perfect equipoise."
John Lahr; Theatre: Wheels of Misfortune; The New Yorker; May 10, 2010.

See more usage examples of equipoise in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Conscience is a man's compass, and though the needle sometimes deviates, though one often perceives irregularities when directing one's course by it, one must still try to follow its direction. -Vincent van Gogh, painter (1853-1890)

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