libra-, liber-, libri-

(Latin: balance; to be balanced; to make even; Roman pound)

equalibrium, equilibrium
1. A physical state or sense of being able to maintain bodily balance.
2. The ability to maintain a mental state of calmness and composure.
3. A situation in which opposing forces or factors balance each other and stability is attained.
4. In a physical sense: The condition of equal balance between opposing forces; that state of a material system in which the forces acting upon the system, or those that are taken into consideration, are so arranged that their resultant at every point is zero.
5. The state of equal balance between powers of any kind; equality of importance or effect among the various parts of any complex unity.
6. The condition of suspense or uncertainty produced by equality with the forces of opposing influences; neutrality of judgment or volition.
7. Etymology: from Latin æquilibrium, from æquus, "equal" + libra, "a balance, scale".
equilibrist (s) (noun), equilibrists (pl)
Those who are skilled in special forms of balancing; especially rope-walkers or acrobats: The circus had a group of outstanding equilibrists who astonished the visitors with their magnificent performances.
A performer of tightrope walking.
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A person who keeps his balance on a tighrope when sleeping.
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geochemical balance (s) (noun), geochemical balancees (pl)
The study of the global distribution and the migration of a particular element, mineral, or compound, including the amount liberated by weathering and transported to the Earth sediments and oceans: One example of geochemical balance can be exemplified by the distribution of quartz in igneous rocks, its liberation by weathering, and its redistribution into sediments and in solutions, into lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Sediments refer to solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering (disintegration and decomposition) of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.

inequilibrium (s) (noun), inequilibriums, inequilibria (pl)
That which is unbalanced because of opposing forces being uneven.
level (s) (noun), levels (pl)
1. A part of a structure that is at a specified height: "William and his family were in the restaurant at the top level of the building."
2. A land area of uniform elevation: "The pictures were hung on the wall at eye level."
3. Etymology: The Latin word for a "balance" or "scales" was libra. English took it as The zodiacal sign and it lies behind many terms for units of measurement, including litre, or liter and the abbreviation lb or £ for British currency known as the "pound".

Its diminutive form was libella, which denoted an "instrument for checking horizontally" and hence a "horizontal line".

It passed into Old French as livel; which in modern French has become niveau, "level", and it entered English as level.

level (verb), levels; leveled (U.S), levelled (British); leveling (U.S.), levelling (British)
1. To knock down with or as if with a blow, to make something flat: "The earthquake leveled the town."
2. To render people or things equal; to equalize: "The mayor wants to level the opportunities for smaller companies to compete against the big companies in the city."
3. To direct something against a person or group: "Several complaints have been leveled against the government for not responding to the economic crisis that is causing so many people to lose their jobs."
4. To speak honestly to someone: "Rebecca's co-worker never leveled with her about backing his car into her vehicle in the parking lot."
level (adjective); leveler, more level; levelest, most level
1. Having a flat, horizontal, or smooth surface: "The campers set up their tents on level ground."

"The recipe indicated that there should be a level tablespoon of sugar which fills the spoon exactly without going any higher than the edges."
2. Descriptive of being without irregularities, roughness, or indentations: "The carpenter made the floor as smooth and level as possible."
3. Steady and calm: "The teacher spoke to her students in a level voice when she told them that everyone had passed the test."

"Brian's brother tried his level best to win the race."

Libra (s) (noun) (no plural)
1. In astronomy, a small constellation in the southern hemisphere between Virgo and Scorpio.
2. In the zodiac, the seventh sign of the zodiac represented by a pair of scales and lasting from approximately September 23 to October 2.
2. Libra is classified as an air sign and its ruling planet is Venus.
librate (verb), librates; librated; librating
1. To place on the scales, to weigh.
2. To oscillate like the beam of a balance; to move from side to side or up and down.
3. When referring to a bird, etc.; to be poised, to balance itself.
libration (s) (noun), librations (pl)
A real or apparent oscillation in the orbit of one celestial body as seen from the one around which it orbits; especially, as seen in the Moon from the Earth.
mechanical balance
1. An arrangement and construction of moving parts in reciprocating or rotating machines to reduce dynamic forces which may result in undesirable vibrations.
2. A balance in which the sample weight is determined by comparison with a calibrated weight.

The mechanical balance consists, essentially, of a rigid beam that oscillates on a horizontal central knife-edge as a fulcrum and has the two end knife-edges parallel and equidistant from the center. The loads to be weighed are supported on pans hung from bearings.

sense of balance, sense-of-balance
A sensory system is located in the structures of the inner ears which determines the orientation of the head or a condition of the bodily balance, maintained primarily by special receptors in the inner ear.

Sensory balance is the result of a number of body systems working together; specifically, in order to achieve balance the eyes (visual system), ears (vestibular system) and the body's sense of where it is in space (proprioception or the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself); all of which need to be intact and normally coordinated.

thermal balance
The level of outdoor temperature at which the heating capacity of a heat pump matches the heating requirements of a building.
torsion balance (s) (noun), torsion balances (pl)
A device designed to measure weak gravitational, electrostatic, or magnetic forces by determining the amount of torsion that they cause in a wire or filament.