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PlainSpell

equal

/ˈiːkwəl/adjective, verb, noun

equal is spelled E-Q-U-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, equal means “The same in one or more respects” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in equal?

Letters5: E-Q-U-A-L
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing45 times per million words; the 2,253rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is equal?

Equal appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce equal?

  • /ˈiːkwəl/
  • /ˈiːkəl/

Equal has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-equal.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-equal.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with equal

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

equal vs equality0 B

Also written: equalled, triple-E.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with equal?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as equal.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: quale.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of equal

  • more equal comparative
  • most equal superlative
  • equals present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • equaling US, participle, present
  • equalling UK, participle, present
  • equaled US, participle, past
  • equalled UK, participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does equal mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    The same in one or more respects.

    Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    The same in all respects that matter practically; interchangeable, fungible, or (even sometimes) identical for practical purposes.

    Equal conditions should produce equal results.

  4. 4

    Exactly identical, having the same value.

    All right angles are equal.

  5. 5

    obsoleteFair, impartial.

  6. 6

    Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.

    This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.

  7. 7

    obsoleteNot variable; equable; uniform; even.

    an equal movement

  8. 8

    Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.

verb

  1. 1

    To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.

    Two plus two equals four.

  2. 2

    To make equivalent to; to cause to match.

    David equaled the water levels of the bottles, so they now both contain exactly 1 liter.

  3. 3

    To match in degree or some other quality, to match up to.

  4. 4

    informalTo have as consequence, to amount to, to mean.

    Losing this deal equals losing your job.

noun

  1. 1

    A person or thing of equal status to others.

    We're all equals here.

  2. 2

    obsoleteState of being equal; equality.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate equal?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of equal: EMI.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Equal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchégal (the same in all respects), égaler à (be equal to), égale (person or thing of equal status to others)
Germangleich (the same in all respects), gleichen (be equal to), Gleichgestellter, Gleichgestellte (person or thing of equal status to others)
Portugueseigual (the same in all respects), ser igual a, igualar (be equal to), par (person or thing of equal status to others), significar (informal: have as its consequence)
Spanishigual, equiparable, equivalente, equipolente (the same in all respects), equivaler a, igualar a / con (be equal to)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does equal come from?

From Middle English equal, from Latin aequālis. Doublet of aequalis and egal.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after equal