inequality

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequalitas, from inaequalis (unequal), from in- (not) + aequalis (equal).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ĭnĭkwŏl'ĭtē, IPA(key): /ˌɪnɪˈkwɒlɪti/

Noun

inequality (countable and uncountable, plural inequalities)

  1. An unfair, not equal, state.
    • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
      In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. []   The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultrawealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
    The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have nots rebelled.
  2. (mathematics) A statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: or or or or , as appropriate.
    The inequality is less than , together with that , allows us to deduce the inequality .

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See also

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