balance English · revision 3329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=la lanx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbæl.əns/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|balaunce]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|xno|balaunce]], a variant of Old French balance “scales”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[la-med|bilancia]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-lat|bilanx|t=having two scale-pans]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) as in libra bilanx “a scale with two pans”,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) perhaps from [[m|la|bi-|t=two]] and [[m|la|lanx|t=dish, scale-pan]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) itself of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) Barnhart allows that bilanx may instead be a Latin borrowing from an unknown source.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from the noun, or from Old French balancer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An apparatus for weighing, a pair of scales: probably about 1200 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 13th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and about 1275 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original sense was the pair of scales that statues of Justice hold.^(Cresswell 2021) Many figurative uses come from the medieval image of scales in the hand of Justice, Fortune or Fate, as in the phrase ''in the balance'', “at risk”, from about 1300.^(Etymonline) Uncertainty is also a 13th-century sense.^(Hoad 1986) The zodiac sign Libra is from 1488.^(OED 1989) The accounting sense, the difference between the two sides of an account, is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and what remains over from 1788, at first in commercial slang.^(Etymonline) Physical equilibrium is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) the ''balance of trade'' from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) the ''balance of power'' among nations from 1701,^(Etymonline) and harmony between parts from 1732.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to be equal with” in the 1570s,^(Etymonline) or 1583 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) “to serve as a counterweight” is from the 1590s, “to bring into equilibrium” from the 1630s and “to keep oneself steady” from 1833.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a pair of scales.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – ''in the balance''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1488 – the zodiac sign Libra.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580s – the balance of an account.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1583 – verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – physical equilibrium, and ''balance of trade''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1701 – ''balance of power''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1788 – the remainder.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for weighing, especially a beam with two pans; a pair of [[scales]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A state of [[equilibrium]]; steadiness of the body.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Harmony or proper proportion between parts.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The difference between the [[credit]] and [[debit]] sides of an account; the amount in an account.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The remainder of something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To bring into or keep in a steady position.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To weigh one thing against another; to compare.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make the two sides of an account equal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To offset or counterbalance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[balanced]]

+ * [[balanceable]]

+ * [[counterbalance]]

+ * [[imbalance]]

+ * [[misbalance]]

+ * [[overbalance]]

+ * [[rebalance]]

+ * [[balancer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[libra]]

+ * [[bilateral]]

+ * [[binary]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}