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adequate

USAD-uh-kwit/ˈæd.ə.kwɪt/AD-i-kwuht/ˈæd.ɪ.kwət/
As a verbAD-uh-kwayt

Verbadequates, adequating, adequated

4 meanings of adequate

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  1. 1
    adjective
    Sufficient to meet a requirement; equal to what a task or situation demands.

    The bridge was deemed adequate for light traffic but not for heavy trucks.

    Their training proved adequate when the emergency finally arrived.

    Similarsufficient, satisfactory, acceptable, proportionate

    Oppositeinadequate

    Note

    Behind the word is Latin adaequatus, "made equal to", and its classic construction keeps that idea of matching: a thing is adequate to something else. Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1811) has an allowance "not adequate to her fortune", and Hannah Woolley in 1673 wants dress adequate "to age, person and condition". Sufficient and satisfactory are close synonyms. Proportionate preserves the older sense of measuring one thing against another. The opposite is inadequate.

  2. 2
    determiner
    Existing in a sufficient quantity to meet a need or purpose.

    The shelter provided adequate water for everyone during the drought.

    Make sure you bring adequate supplies for a week in the mountains.

    Similarsufficient, enough

    Oppositeinsufficient

  3. 3
    verbobsolete
    To make two things equal; to bring something into proportion with a requirement.
    Let me giue yet one instance more, of a truly intellectuall obiect, exactly adequated and proportioned vnto the intellectuall appetite.
    1622, Martin Fotherby, Atheomastix; clearing foure truthes
    Note

    A verb made directly from the Latin participle behind the ordinary adjective: to adequate something was to bring it into equality or proportion with another. Martin Fotherby's Atheomastix (1622) pairs it with its near twin, describing an object "adequated and proportioned" to the mind's appetite. The verb is obsolete, and modern English says equalize or equate instead.

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    verbobsolete
    To be equal to; to match in measure, degree, or value.
    Note

    Here the verb means to be equal rather than to make equal. It is the stative counterpart of the "equalize" sense, and it takes a direct object. Robert Shelford's Theologia Amantis Deum (1635) uses it of matching the divine: no creature can "adequate God in his eternitie". The verb is obsolete. Modern English would say equal or match, as in no creature can equal God.

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Origin

A learned borrowing from Latin adaequatus, the past participle of adaequo ('to make equal to'), formed from ad ('to, towards') and aequo ('to make equal'), from aequus ('equal'). It is related to French adéquat.