equilibrium Copy link Outline I. Lit.1. expr. by mōmentum2. expr. by lībro, 13. aequĭlibrium (as scient. t. t.)II. Fig. • equilibrium: I. Lit.: a state of equipoise: 1. expr. by mōmentum: to be at e., pari m. libratum esse, Col. 3, 12, med.: the stars maintain their e. by their very form and figure, astra formâ ipsâ figurâque momenta sustentant, Cic. N.D. 2, 46, 117. 2. expr. by lībro, 1: by what weights the earth is kept in e., quibus librata ponderibus terra sustineatur, Cic. Tusc. 5, 24, 69: cf. Luc. 5, 94: aëre libratum vacuo quae sustinet orbem: see also supr. (1). 3. aequĭlibrium (as scient. t. t.): cf. Sen. N. Q. 3, 25, 5: ad aequilibrium aquae descendant (of bodies which float). Phr.: to lose its e. (of the globe), praeponderare, Sen. N. Q. 3, 10, 3: so perfect is its e. (of a colossus), ea ratio libramenti est, Plin. 34, 7, 18. II. Fig.: a state in which motives, etc., are balanced: use phr. under (I), with quasi, velut: to preserve the e. of the different orders, *quo magis omnes in civitate ordines quasi paribus momentis librati contineantur: v. supr.