adequate

English Online Dictionary. What means adequate‎? What does adequate mean?

English

Alternative forms

• adæquate (obsolete)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin adaequātus, perfect passive participle of adaequō (“to make equal to”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from ad (“to, towards, at”) + aequō (“to make equal, equalize”), from aequus (“equal”). Cognate with French adéquat.

Pronunciation

Adjective

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæd.ə.kwɪt/, (proscribed) /ˈæ.də.kɪt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæd.ɪ.kwət/

Verb

• IPA^(key): /ˈæd.ɪˌkweɪt/

Adjective

adequate (comparative more adequate, superlative most adequate)

1. Equal to or fulfilling some requirement.

   Synonyms: acceptable, correspondent, proportionate, satisfactory, sufficient

   Antonym: inadequate

   • 1853, Thomas De Quincey, Autobiographic Sketches in Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers, Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, “Dublin,” p. 254,^[2]

     […] in those days, Ireland had no adequate champion; the Hoods and the Grattans were not up to the mark.

Synonyms

• (passable): See Thesaurus:satisfactory

Derived terms

Related terms

• adequacy
• adequation
• adequative

Translations

Determiner

adequate

1. A sufficient amount of; enough.

Verb

adequate (third-person singular simple present adequates, present participle adequating, simple past and past participle adequated)

1. (obsolete) To equalize; to make adequate.
2. (obsolete) To equal.

Translations

Anagrams

• æquated

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

adequate

1. inflection of adequare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

adequate f pl

1. feminine plural of adequato