balance

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See also: Balance and balancé

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A balance (scales)
A rock balanced on one corner

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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PIE word
*dwóh₁

From Middle English balaunce, from Old French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia, from (accusative form of) Latin bilanx (“two-scaled”), from bi- + lanx (“plate, scale”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbæləns/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æləns

Noun

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balance (countable and uncountable, plural balances)

  1. (uncountable) A state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 196:
      But civilized man is quite a different animal, and when he wipes out an entire city or levels a forest, he is no longer working within the natural balance of things.
  2. (uncountable) Mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed.
  3. (literally or figuratively) Something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium; counterweight.
    These weights are used as a balance for the overhanging verandah.
    Blair thought he could provide a useful balance to Bush's policies.
  4. A pair of scales.
  5. (uncountable) Awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity.
  6. (uncountable) The overall result of conflicting forces, opinions etc.; the influence which ultimately "weighs" more than others.
    The balance of power finally lay with the Royalist forces.
    I think the balance of opinion is that we should get out while we're ahead.
    • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian‎[1]:
      The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.
  7. (uncountable) Apparent harmony in art (between differing colours, sounds, etc.).
  8. (accounting) A list accounting for the debits on one side, and for the credits on the other.
  9. (accounting) The result of such a procedure; the difference between credit and debit of an account.
    I just need to nip to a bank and check my balance.
  10. (watchmaking) A device used to regulate the speed of a watch, clock etc.
  11. (law, business, statistics) The remainder.
    The balance of the agreement remains in effect.
    The invoice said he had only paid $50. The balance was $220.
    Balance Luzon (Philippine usage)
  12. (obsolete, astrology) Libra.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Accounting and economics
Other noun phrases
Compound words
Prepositional phrases
Predicates

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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A girl balancing on a plank of wood

balance (third-person singular simple present balances, present participle balancing, simple past and past participle balanced)

  1. (transitive) To bring (items) to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights.
  2. (transitive, figurative) To make (concepts) agree.
    • 2014', Peter Melville Logan, Olakunle George, Susan Hegeman, The Encyclopedia of the Novel
      the Proteus Principle helps to qualify and balance the concepts of narrators and of narrative situations as previously developed in classical studies by G erard Genette and Franz Stanzel.
  3. (transitive) To hold (an object or objects) precariously; to support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling.
    I balanced my mug of coffee on my knee.
    The circus performer balances a plate on the end of a baton.
  4. (transitive) To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to estimate.
    • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
      Ballance the Good and Evil of Things.
    • 1941 September, Charles E. Lee, “Sheltering in London Tube Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 389:
      Mr. Morrison's ruling to reopen the station as a shelter was given after he had balanced the relative dangers of flooding and bombing.
  5. (transitive, dance) To move toward, and then back from, reciprocally.
    to balance partners
  6. (nautical) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass.
    to balance the boom mainsail
  7. (transitive) To make the credits and debits of (an account) correspond.
    This final payment, or credit, balances the account.
    to balance a set of books
  8. (intransitive) To be in equilibrium.
  9. (intransitive) To have matching credits and debits.
  10. (transitive, obsolete) To weigh in a balance.
  11. (intransitive, obsolete) To hesitate or fluctuate.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of balance
infinitive (to) balance
present tense past tense
1st-person singular balance balanced
2nd-person singular balance, balancest† balanced, balancedst†
3rd-person singular balances, balanceth† balanced
plural balance
subjunctive balance balanced
imperative balance —
participles balancing balanced

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French balance, from Old French balance, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx, from bi- (see Latin bis) and lanx.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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balance f (plural balances)

  1. scales (clarification of this definition is needed)
  2. (chemistry, physics) balance (clarification of this definition is needed)
  3. (economics, electricity, politics) balance (clarification of this definition is needed)
  4. (fishing) drop-net
  5. (slang) informant, snitch
  6. (Louisiana) the rest, the remainder
  7. (Louisiana) a scale, more specifically a balancing scale

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Russian: бала́нс (baláns)
  • → Ukrainian: бала́нс (baláns)

Verb

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balance

  1. inflection of balancer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Latin

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Noun

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balance

  1. ablative singular of balanx

Middle English

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Noun

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balance

  1. Alternative form of balaunce

Middle French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old French balance, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx.

Noun

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balance f (plural balances)

  1. scales (weighing scales)
  2. (figurative) arbitrator

Descendants

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References

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  • balance on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Old French

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Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx.

Noun

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balance oblique singular, f (oblique plural balances, nominative singular balance, nominative plural balances)

  1. scales (weighing scales)

Descendants

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References

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Portuguese

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Verb

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balance

  1. inflection of balançar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (Spain) /baˈlanθe/ [baˈlãn̟.θe]
  • IPA(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /baˈlanse/ [baˈlãn.se]
  • Rhymes: -anθe
  • Rhymes: -anse
  • Syllabification: ba‧lan‧ce

Noun

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balance m (plural balances)

  1. balance; weighing up
  2. (accounting) balance
    Synonym: saldo

Further reading

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Anagrams

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