| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| equal (adj.) |
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| means “the same in size or quality” and is often considered an absolute adjective. (That limitation makes possible the Orwellian Animal Farm [1946] dictum “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” a seeming impossibility that makes clear the totalitarian abuse of the principle of equality.) But as a general adjective, equal has long been subject to comparison in some Standard uses. | 1 |
| When it combines with prepositions, equal usually takes to, as in Her raise is equal to the average received by the rest of us, but can also take with, as in Infant mortality rates are equal with drug-related crime as critical urban problems today. | 2 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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