(a.) Equal in wortir or value, force, power, effect, import,
and the like; alike in significance and value; of the same import or
meaning.
(a.) Equal in measure but not admitting of superposition; --
applied to magnitudes; as, a square may be equivalent to a triangle.
(a.) Contemporaneous in origin; as, the equivalent strata of
different countries.
(n.) Something equivalent; that which is equal in value,
worth, weight, or force; as, to offer an equivalent for damage done.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A combining unit, whether an atom, a radical, or a
molecule; as, in acid salt two or more equivalents of acid unite with
one or more equivalents of base.
(v. t.) To make the equivalent to; to equal; equivalence.
