balance

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a state of equilibrium
  2. noun equality between the totals of the credit and debit sides of an account
  3. noun harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design); - John Ruskin

Etymology

From Middle English balaunce, from Old French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia, from (accusative form of) Latin bilanx (“two-scaled”), from bi- + lanx (“plate, scale”). Displaced the word — Old English wǣġ akin to Modern English: wey from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu (“scales; weight”).

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