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(), a.[L. aequivalens, -entis, p. pr. of aequivalere to have equal power; aequus equal + valere to be strong, be worth: cf. F. quivalent. See Equal, and Valiant.] 1. Equal in worth or value, force, power, effect, import, and the like; alike in significance and value; of the same import or meaning. For now to serve and to minister, servile and ministerial, are terms equivalent. South. 2. (Geom.) Equal in measure but not admitting of superposition; -- applied to magnitudes; as, a square may be equivalent to a triangle. 3. (Geol.) Contemporaneous in origin; as, the equivalent strata of different countries. Equiv"alent (), n. 1. Something equivalent; that which is equal in value, worth, weight, or force; as, to offer an equivalent for damage done. He owned that, if the Test Act were repealed, the Protestants were entitled to some equivalent. . . . During some weeks the word equivalent, then lately imported from France, was in the mouths of all the coffeehouse orators. Macaulay. 2. (Chem.) That comparative quantity by weight of an element which possesses the same chemical value as other elements, as determined by actual experiment and reference to the same standard. Specifically: (a) The comparative proportions by which one element replaces another in any particular compound; thus, as zinc replaces hydrogen in hydrochloric acid, their equivalents are 32.5 and 1. (b) The combining proportion by weight of a substance, or the number expressing this proportion, in any particular compound; as, the equivalents of hydrogen and oxygen in water are respectively 1 and 8, and in hydric dioxide 1 and 16. This Equiv"alent v. t.To make the equivalent to; to equal; equivalence. [R.] スポンサード リンク
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