different between weigh vs equalize

English

Alternative forms

• waye, weye (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English weghen, we?en, from Old English wegan, from Proto-Germanic *wegan? (“to move, carry, weigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *wé??eti, from *we??- (“to bring, transport”). Cognate with Scots wey or weich, Dutch wegen, German wiegen, wägen, Danish veje, Norwegian Bokmål veie, Norwegian Nynorsk vega. Doublet of wedge, wagon, way, and vector.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?, IPA^(key): /we?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Homophones: way, wey, whey (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Verb

weigh (third-person singular simple present weighs, present participle weighing, simple past and past participle weighed)

1. (transitive) To determine the weight of an object.
2. (transitive) Often with "out", to measure a certain amount of something by its weight, e.g. for sale.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To determine the intrinsic value or merit of an object, to evaluate.
4. (intransitive, figuratively, obsolete) To judge; to estimate.
5. (transitive) To consider a subject. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
6. (transitive) To have a certain weight.

7. (intransitive) To have weight; to be heavy; to press down.
   • They only weigh the heavier.

8. (intransitive) To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance.
9. (transitive, nautical) To raise an anchor free of the seabed.
10. (intransitive, nautical) To weigh anchor.
11. To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up.
12. (obsolete) To consider as worthy of notice; to regard.

Usage notes

• In commercial and everyday use, the term "weight" is usually used to mean mass, and the verb "to weigh" means "to determine the mass of" or "to have a mass of".

Derived terms

Related terms

• weight

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• equalise (non-Oxford British spelling)
• æqualize (obsolete)

Etymology

From equal +? -ize.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?i?kw?la?z/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ikw??la?z/

Verb

equalize (third-person singular simple present equalizes, present participle equalizing, simple past and past participle equalized)

1. (transitive) To make equal; to cause to correspond in amount or degree.

   to equalize accounts, burdens, or taxes

   • 1815, William Wordsworth, Epitaph 3

     One poor moment can suffice / To equalize the lofty and the low.

   • 1828, Richard Whately, Elements of Rhetoric

     No system of instruction will completely equalize natural powers.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To be equal to; to equal, to rival. [16th-19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.9:

     But a third kingdom yet is to arise / Out of the Trojans scattered ofspring, / That in all glory and great enterprise, / Both first and second Troy shall dare to equalise.
3. (intransitive, sports) To make the scoreline equal by scoring points. [from 20th c.]
4. (underwater diving) To clear the ears to balance the pressure in the middle ear with the outside pressure by letting air enter along the Eustachian tubes.
5. (category theory) Said of a morphism: to pre-compose with each of a parallel pair of morphisms so as to yield the same composite morphism.
6. (signal processing) To adjust the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal.

Derived terms

• equalizer, equaliser
• equalization, equalisation

Translations