ēˈkwāzhən, ə̇ˈ- also -āsh- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English equacioun, from Latin aequation-, aequatio, from aequatus + -ion-, -io -ion
1.
a. : the act or process of equating : equalization
the equation of service pay and civilian wages
equation of colors
: identification
the king's equation of himself with his country
b.
(1) : a quantity added or subtracted in equating a computation
equation of the equinoxes
(2) : an element affecting a process : factor
solely on the merits of their performances on that occasion, and no other equations should enter into his decisions — W.F.Brown b. 1903
(3) : a complex of variable factors
sociologists … taking into account motives, values, norms, ends — the whole social equation that fundamentalists in science have considered merely a source of error — H.J.Muller
— compare human equation , personal equation
c. : a state of being equated : balance
diplomats who work out the delicate equations of power
specifically : a state of association or identification of two or more things
the dreamer … can put into symbolic equation any two diverse things — Weston La Barre
2. : a usually formal statement of equivalence:
a. : a statement of equality between two mathematical expressions (as numbers, functions, magnitudes, operations), the sign = usually being placed between them
b. : an expression representing a chemical reaction quantitatively by means of chemical symbols, the formulas of the reacting substances being placed on the left and those of the products on the right of the sign → or = or of the sign ⇄ or ⇌ if the reaction is reversible all of which signs should be read “give,” not “are equal to”
c.
(1) logic : a formal expression of the sameness of reference of two expressions
(2) symbolic logic : the expression of a proposition or of the relation between propositions in a form analogous to an algebraic equation
d. : the mathematical expression of the proportions in which color stimuli must be mixed for equation of colors