Definition of "equivalent" in English

adjective

1. Similar or identical in value, meaning or effect; virtually equal.

   • To burn calories, a thirty-minute jog is equivalent to a couple of hamburgers.

2. (mathematics) Of two sets, having a one-to-one correspondence.

3. (mathematics) Relating to the corresponding elements of an equivalence relation.

4. (mathematics, category theory) Of two categories, (informally) such that one is essentially a relabeling of the other; (formally) related by a pair of functors such the composition of the one with the other is naturally isomorphic to the identity functor.

5. (chemistry) Having the equal ability to combine.

6. (cartography) Of a map, equal-area.

7. (geometry) Equal in measure but not admitting of superposition; applied to magnitudes.

   • A square may be equivalent to a triangle.

noun

1. Anything that is virtually equal to something else, or has the same value, force, etc.

2. (chemistry) An equivalent weight.

verb

1. (transitive) To make equivalent to; to equal.