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Glite Dictionary
equivalent word

equivalent word

1 3.2
A word with the same or very similar meaning as another word
  • noun
  • /ɪˈkwɪvələnt wɜrd/
translation icon : palabra equivalente
  • She searched for an equivalent word to express her feelings more precisely.

Examples

  • 'Huge' is an equivalent word to 'enormous' in this context.

  • When translating, it's important to choose the most accurate equivalent word in the target language.

  • The term 'happy' is an equivalent word for 'joyful'.

  • Can you think of an equivalent word for 'sad'?

  • The best equivalent word for happy in this context is joyful.

  • She struggled to find an equivalent word for the expression in her native language.

  • The teacher provided an equivalent word to help the students understand the vocabulary.

Synonyms

synonym
vsequivalent word
24 2.8

A word with the same or a very similar meaning to another word

is a single term used with that meaning only in a specific context

Surface Forms

equivalent word singular
equivalent words plural

Morphology

equivalent + word

The meaning 'a word with the same or nearly the same meaning' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'equivalent' (equal in meaning) with 'word' (a lexical item). This adjective+noun composition follows a common and cross-linguistically familiar pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun equivalent word comes from the idea of equivalent meaning 'equal' and word meaning 'a single word'. Imagine two coins with the same value: an equivalent word is a word that matches another in meaning, so it means 'a word with the same meaning'.