Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality of being calm and even-tempered; composure.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Evenness of mind or temper; calmness or firmness, especially under conditions adapted to excite great emotion; a state of resistance to elation, depression, anger, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed; patience; calmness; composure.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being calm, stable and composed, especially under stress.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun steadiness of mind under stress

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin aequanimitās, from aequanimus, even-tempered, impartial : aequus, even + animus, mind; see anə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin aequanimitās ("calmness, equanimity"), from aequus ("even; calm; fair") + animus ("mind, soul") + -itās.

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Examples

Comments

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  • To embrace a truth at the price of one's vanity repays the cost in the coin of equanimity.

    Nick Piombino, Fait Accompli

    December 19, 2006

  • Surely epitomised by Kipling's "If"?

    November 21, 2007

  • It takes guts to retain your equanimity when you are struck by investive

    April 10, 2008

  • “Rehnquist took the news with equanimity. Antonin Scalia did not.�?

    — Jeffrey Toobin, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court (2007) at 55.

    June 6, 2008

  • –noun. mental or emotional stability or composure, esp. under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.

    September 12, 2008

  • wajo22: Did you mean invective?

    October 1, 2008