the.com/counterbalance
The weight you add so nothing tips over, including arguments and elevators.
means A force, weight, or influence that offsets another, keeping something stable instead of letting it tip over or run away with itself.
from Built from the Latin-rooted 'counter-' (against, opposite) plus 'balance,' from Latin 'bilanx' — 'bi-' (two) and 'lanx' (scale-pan) — literally 'having two scale-pans,' the image of an old weighing scale. Put them together and you get a word that's literally 'a weight on the opposite scale-pan,' pressed into figurative service for anything from political power to emotional steadiness.
- origin
- literally balance against, from 17th century French
- engineering
- elevators use one to cut motor effort by half
- politics use
- checks and balances is this idea in a suit
- body hack
- your arms swing opposite legs to stop you spinning