Equal or equality?
equal is an adjective meaning “The same in one or more respects”; equality is a noun meaning “The fact of being equal”. Use equal as an adjective and equality as a noun (equal is also a noun: “A person or thing of equal status to others”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) equal is about 2.5 times as common as equality.
What is the difference between equal and equality?
| equal | equality | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | The same in one or more respects The same in value (status, merit, etc): having or deserving the same rights or treatment To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to | The fact of being equal The fact of being equal, of having the same value |
| Example | Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal | none recorded |
| Forms | none | equalities |
| Pronunciation | /ˈiːkwəl/ /ˈiːkəl/ | /ɪˈkwɒl.ɪ.ti/ /ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/ [ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ɾi] |
| In writing | 45 times per million words | 18 times per million words |
Sources: equal and equality in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of equal and equality
equal
- 1
The same in one or more respects
Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal
- 2
To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to
Two plus two equals four
- 3
A person or thing of equal status to others
We're all equals here
- 4
Abbreviation of equality
- 5
The same in value (status, merit, etc): having or deserving the same rights or treatment
We hold that all men are created equal and are thus equal under the law
- 6
To make equivalent to; to cause to match
David equaled the water levels of the bottles, so they now both contain exactly 1 liter
- 7
The same in all respects that matter practically; interchangeable, fungible, or (even sometimes) identical for practical purposes
Equal conditions should produce equal results
- 8
To match in degree or some other quality, to match up to
equality
- 1
The fact of being equal
- 2
The fact of being equal, of having the same value
- 3
The equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, equal or equality?
equal appears 45 times per million words; equality 18 times per million words.
equal 45 times per million wordsequality 18 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).