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▪ I. equipoise, n.|ˈiːkwɪpɔɪz|
Also 7 æquipoiz, 8 æquipoise.
[f. equi- + poise n.1, replacing the phrase equal poise.]
1. Equality or equal distribution of weight; a condition of perfect balance or equilibrium.
a. in material things.
[1635N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iv. 74 The least weight whatsoever added or subtracted would turne it from its Equall-poyze.] 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. xiv. 82 And even in the temperate Zone of our life, there are few bodies at such an æquipoiz of humours. 1713Derham Phys. Theol. 14 note, An æquipoise of the Atmosphere produceth a Calm. 1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. 39 In your eagerness to mount, you may, by over-exerting yourself, lose your equipoise. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art (ed. Webster) I. 34 If the arms of a balance be unequal, the weights in equipoise will be unequal in the same proportion. 1833Marryat P. Simple xx, O'Brien..kept his left arm raised in equipoise. 1857H. Reed Lect. Eng. Poets vii. 257 The beam of the balance will scarcely be moved to recover its equipoise.
b. in immaterial things; esp. intellectual, moral, political, or social forces or interests.
1658J. Robinson Stone to the Altar 83 If between the weight of two equal Senses, there be an indistinguishable Equipoise. 1678Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 117 So great reason..to lay the foundation of his [Des Cartes'] Philosophy in an equipoise of mind. 1759Johnson Idler No. 83 ⁋4 Sim Scruple..lives in a continual equipoise of doubt. 1822De Quincey Confess. (1862) 197 Opium on the contrary communicates serenity and equipoise to all the faculties. 1858Longfellow Birds of Passage, Haunted Houses, Our little lives are kept in equipoise By opposite attractions and desires. 1885Stevenson in Contemp. Rev. Apr. 550 Between the implication and the evolution of the sentence there should be a satisfying equipoise of sound.
2. A counterpoise; a balancing or equivalent force. Chiefly fig.
1780Sir J. Reynolds Disc. x. (1876) 6 One side making almost an exact equipoise to the other. 1847De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun §20 (1853) 65 Some sort of equipoise to the wealth which her daughter would bring. a1862Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. i. 43 The equipoise to the clergy [i.e. the aristocracy] being removed, the Church became so powerful.
▪ II. equipoise, v.|ˈiːkwɪpɔɪz|
Also 7 equipoyse, æquipoise.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To serve as an equipoise to; to counterbalance.
1664Power Exp. Philos. ii. 105 A Cylinder of that weight does just æquipoise the Elastic power of the Ayr without. 1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sc. 264, I see they just equipoize each other. 1816Southey in Q. Rev. XVI. 228 An opposition, which, till then, had nearly equipoised the weight of the ministry. 1856Landor Ant. & Octav. v. 39 No Praise Can equipoise his virtues. 1868R. Buchanan Trag. Dramas Hist., Wallace i. vi, On yonder bier Lies one whose worth to equipoise thy master..Were gossamer to gold.
2. To place or hold in equipoise; to hold (the mind) in suspense.
a1764Lloyd Poems, Actor, A whole minute equipois'd he stands. 1804Med. Jrnl. XII. 343 Regulating, and equipoising the various functions of the animal economy. 1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1858) III. 355 He had to equipoise the opposite interests of the Catholics and the Evangelists. 1887J. W. Graham Neæra ii. xxiv. 361 Suspicion and dissimulation equipoised the Imperial mind [Tiberius].
†3. intr. To balance with. Obs. rare—1.
1647Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 85 Where upper things will not With nether equipoyse.
Hence ˈequipoised ppl. a., ˈequipoising vbl. n.
a1685Let. to Dk. York in 5th Coll. Papers Pres. Affairs (1688) 38, I am a dutiful and hearty Lover of Monarchy..when establish'd on such an Equi-pois'd Basis of Wisdom as ours is. 1832Carlyle Jas. Carlyle 45 Mallets and irons hung in two equipoised masses over the shoulder. 1854Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 6 The beam of an equipoised balance. c1790J. Imison Sch. Art I. 166 By its [the air's pressure]..equipoising..29 and a half inches of mercury. |