- Equal, as in value, force, or meaning.
- Having similar or identical effects.
- Being essentially equal, all things considered: a wish that was equivalent to a command.
- Mathematics.
- Capable of being put into a one-to-one relationship. Used of two sets.
- Having virtually identical or corresponding parts.
- Of or relating to corresponding elements under an equivalence relation.
- Chemistry. Having the same ability to combine.
- Logic. Having equivalence: equivalent propositions.
- Something that is essentially equal to another: "Prejudicing vital foreign policy considerations in order to rescue individuals finds its domestic equivalent in the inflated awards paid to ... accident and malpractice victims" (Moorhead Kennedy).
- Chemistry. Equivalent weight.
[Middle English, from Late Latin aequivalēns, aequivalent-, present participle of aequivalēre, to have equal force : Latin aequi-, equi- + Latin valēre, to be strong.]
equivalently e·quiv'a·lent·ly adv.




