ADEQUATELY

- 4 dictionary results

ad⋅e⋅quate

[ad-i-kwit]

–adjective

1.	as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose; fully sufficient, suitable, or fit (often fol. by to or for): This car is adequate to our needs. adequate food for fifty people.

2.	barely sufficient or suitable: Being adequate is not good enough.

3.	Law. reasonably sufficient for starting legal action: adequate grounds.

Origin:
1610–20; < L adaequātus matched (ptp. of adaequāre). See ad-, equal, -ate ¹

Related forms:

ad⋅e⋅quate⋅ly, adverb

ad⋅e⋅quate⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. satisfactory, competent, sufficient, enough; capable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To ADEQUATELY

ad·e·quate (ād'ĭ-kwĭt)

adj.

Sufficient to satisfy a requirement or meet a need. See Synonyms at sufficient.
Barely satisfactory or sufficient: The skater's technique was only adequate.

[Latin adaequātus, past participle of adaequāre, to equalize : ad-, ad- + aequāre, to make equal, from aequus, equal.]
ad'e·qua·cy (-kwə-sē), ad'e·quate·ness n., ad'e·quate·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

adequate

1617, from L. adæquatus "equalized," pp. of adæquare "equalize," from ad- "to" + æquare "make level," from æquus (see equal). The sense is of being "equal to what is required."

Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ad·e·quate
Function: adjective
: lawfully and reasonably sufficient <adequate grounds for a lawsuit>

Search another word or see ADEQUATELY on Thesaurus | Reference

»eldritch
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