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Equal vs Rival - What's the difference?

equal | rival |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between equal and rival

is that equal is (obsolete) state of being equal; equality while rival is (obsolete) one having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.

As adjectives the difference between equal and rival

is that equal is (label) the same in all respects while rival is having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.

As verbs the difference between equal and rival

is that equal is (mathematics) to be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to while rival is to oppose or compete with.

As nouns the difference between equal and rival

is that equal is a person or thing of equal status to others while rival is a competitor (person, team, company, etc) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.

equal

English

Alternative forms

* (archaic) * (archaic)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (label) The same in all respects.
  • * (1671-1743)
    • They who are not disposed to receive them may let them alone or reject them; it is equal to me.
  • Exactly identical, having the same value.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.}}
  • (label) Fair, impartial.
  • * 1644 , (John Milton), (Aeropagitica) :
    • it could not but much redound to the lustre of your milde and equall Government, when as private persons are hereby animated to thinke ye better pleas'd with publick advice, then other statists have been delighted heretofore with publicke flattery.
  • * Bible, (w) xviii. 29
    • Are not my ways equal ?
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • Thee, O Jove, no equal judge I deem.
  • (label) Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
  • * 1881 , (Jane Austen), , p. 311
    • her comprehension was certainly more equal to the covert meaning, the superior intelligence, of those five letters so arranged.
  • * (1609-1674)
    • The Scots trusted not their own numbers as equal to fight with the English.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
    • It is not permitted to me to make my commendations equal to your merit.
  • * (Ralph Waldo Emerson) (1803-1882)
    • whose voice an equal messenger / Conveyed thy meaning mild.
  • (label) Not variable; equable; uniform; even.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
    • an equal temper
  • (label) Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.

    • Usage notes

    *

    Synonyms

    * (the same in all respects) identical * (exactly identical) equivalent, identical * (unvarying) even, fair, uniform, unvarying

    Verb

  • (mathematics) To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.
    • Two plus two equals four.
  • To be equivalent to; to match
  • * 2004 , Mary Levy and Jim Kelly, Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?
    • There was an even more remarkable attendance figure that underscores the devotion exhibited by our fans, because it was in 1991 that they set a single season in-stadium attendance record that has never been equaled .
  • (informal) To have as its consequence.
    • Losing this deal equals losing your job.
    Might does not equal right.

    Synonyms

    * (to be equal to) be, is * (sense) entail, imply, lead to, mean, result in, spell

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person or thing of equal status to others.
    • We're all equals here.
    This beer has no equal .
  • * Addison
    • Those who were once his equals envy and defame him.
  • (obsolete) State of being equal; equality.
    • (Spenser)

    Synonyms

    * (person or thing of equal status to others) peer

    Derived terms

    * equally * equalize/equalise * unequal * equal temperament

    Related terms

    * equality

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words

    rival

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you
  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
  • (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

    Derived terms

    * rivalry * archrival

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
    • rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions
  • * Macaulay
    • The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

    Verb

  • To oppose or compete with.
    • to rival somebody in love
  • To be equal to or to surpass another.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].}}
  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
  • * Dryden
    • to rival thunder in its rapid course

    Anagrams

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