equanimity
noun
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Keep Things Balanced With the Definition of Equanimity
If you think "equanimity" looks like it has something to do with "equal," you've guessed correctly. Both "equanimity" and "equal" are derived from "aequus," a Latin adjective meaning "level" or "equal." "Equanimity" comes from the combination of "aequus" and "animus" ("soul" or "mind") in the Latin phrase aequo animo, which means "with even mind." English speakers began using "equanimity" early in the 17th century with the now obsolete sense "fairness or justness of judgment," which was in keeping with the meaning of the Latin phrase. Equanimity quickly came to suggest keeping a cool head under any sort of pressure, not merely when presented with a problem, and eventually, it developed an extended sense for general balance and harmony.
Synonyms
Examples of equanimity in a Sentence
Patrick White, Flaws in the Glass, (1981) 1983
She's heading straight for us—he thought. … And his uneasiness grew by the recollection of the forty tons of dynamite in the body of the Ferndale; not the sort of cargo one thinks of with equanimity in connexion with a threatened collision.
—Joseph Conrad, Chance, (1913) 1924
an Olympic diver who always displays remarkable equanimity on the platform
Chloe Schama, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2024
Perkins has arrived at a place of equanimity about death that belies the slow-simmering, obliquely personal nightmares he’s spent the last decade turning out for the big screen.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 July 2024
On the runway somewhere on the campaign jet, before the pick is announced, brutal Steve Schmidt is struck by Palin’s equanimity.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2024
But, by the time Vance was growing up, Jim had quit drinking and reached something of a cranky equanimity with Bonnie.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for equanimity 
Dictionary Entries Near equanimity
Cite this Entry
“Equanimity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equanimity. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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equanimity
noun
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