What does equaliser mean?
An equaliser is something that makes unequal things equal again. Its most visible use is in sport, where — above all in football — an equaliser is the goal that wipes out an opponent's lead and levels the score, often celebrated as one of the most dramatic moments a match can produce. Beyond the playing field, the word has a technical life in audio engineering: an equaliser is a device or software control that adjusts the balance of bass, midrange, and treble frequencies in recorded or amplified sound, from studio mixing desks to the tone settings of a phone's music app. The word also carries a figurative sense, describing anything that removes unfair advantages between people — money, education, and technology are all routinely called great equalisers. Spelt 'equaliser' in British English and 'equalizer' in American English, it derives from the Latin aequus, meaning level or even, the same root that gives us equality and equilibrium.
nounA thing or person that makes things equal, or restores equality between them; in sport, especially football, it is the goal that levels the score between two teams. In audio engineering, an equaliser is a device or software control for adjusting the balance of different frequency components in a sound signal.
- A goal or action in sport that makes the scores level.
- A device or software control that adjusts the balance of frequencies in audio.
- Something regarded as removing advantages and disadvantages between people, making conditions fair or comparable.
"The captain scored a dramatic late equaliser to rescue a point for her side."
"United equalised through a stunning volley, the equaliser arriving in stoppage time."
"She nudged the bass up on the equaliser until the track finally sounded right."
The standard plural follows regular English noun inflection. In American spelling it is written 'equalizers'.
"The two strikers have scored more equalisers than anyone else in the league this season."
In 1962, the BBC's first broadcast used a graphic equaliser — but on the football pitch, no word captures heartbreak and joy at once quite like a 90th-minute equaliser.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of equaliser
Equaliser comes from the verb 'equalise', formed in English from the adjective 'equal' plus the suffix '-ise'. 'Equal' derives from Latin aequus, meaning level, even, or fair, which also underlies equality, equation, and equator. The agent-noun form with '-er' emerged in English by the early modern period to mean one who or that which makes equal, and its senses broadened over time from general fairness into sport and, in the twentieth century, audio engineering.
Related word forms
How equaliser is actually used
The spelling 'equaliser' is standard in British English, with 'equalizer' preferred in American English; the pronunciation is the same. In sports journalism, especially British coverage of football, the noun is extremely common and almost always refers to a goal that levels the score. The figurative sense ('education is a great equaliser') is a well-established idiom in both varieties.
Easily confused with equaliser
Equalizer is simply the American spelling of the same word; equaliser is the standard British spelling.