balance: [13] The underlying etymological meaning of balance is of a weighing apparatus with ‘two pans’ for holding things. In Latin this was a lībra bilanx, literally ‘scales with two pans’ – bilanx being compounded from bi- ‘two’ and lanx ‘plate, pan’. Bilanx passed, in its stem from bilanc-, via Vulgar Latin *bilancia into Old French balance, the source of the English word.
balance (n.)
early 13c., "apparatus for weighing," from Old French balance (12c.) "balance, scales for weighing," also in the figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from Latin bis "twice" + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance." The accounting sense is from 1580s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732; sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s. Balance of power in the geopolitical sense is from 1701. Many figurative uses (such as hang in the balance, late 14c.), are from Middle English image of the scales in the hands of personified Justice, Fortune, Fate, etc.
balance (v.)
1570s, "be equal with," from balance (n.). Meaning "bring or keep in equilibrium" is from 1630s; that of "keep oneself in equilibrium" is from 1833. Of accounts, from 1580s. Related: Balanced; balancing. Balanced meal, diet, etc. is from 1908.
双语例句
1. He remains the anchor of the country's fragile political balance.
他仍然是维系该国脆弱的政治平衡的支柱。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He figured up the balance in their checking account.
他算出了他们活期存款账户上的余额总和。
来自柯林斯例句
3. I'd like to check the balance in my account please.
请查一下我的账户余额。
来自柯林斯例句
4. A balance is achieved in the painting between orderliness and unpredictability.
这幅画作在条理分明和出人意表之间取得了平衡。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The total of debits must balance the total of credits.