📖 Biblical Definition
Equanimity is settled levelness of mind in shifting circumstance. Paul names it without using the word: I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content (Phil 4:11). Job displays it under loss: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Equanimity is the mark of a soul whose center is not in the surrounding weather.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed.
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EQUANIMITY, n. Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed in prosperity or adversity.
Equanimity is closely related to patience but distinct from it: patience endures; equanimity remains level, neither over-elevated by good news nor crushed by bad.
📖 Key Scripture
Job 1:21 — "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
Philippians 4:11 — "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
Philippians 4:12 — "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry."
Psalm 131:2 — "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often values emotional intensity; equanimity looks suspiciously flat to a culture trained on highs and lows.
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Paul says he learned it. Equanimity is not temperament; it is achievement. The man who has learned to be abased and to abound has trained the soul to a single level, anchored elsewhere than in the bank account or the mood.
Equanimity is not stoicism — the saint still rejoices, still grieves. But the rejoicing does not lift him into pride and the grief does not drop him into despair. The center holds because it is in Christ, not in circumstance.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The Latin compound is the cleanest English window into the concept.
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Latin aequus (equal, level) plus animus (mind) — level-mindedness.
Note: closely related to Greek autarkeia (self-sufficiency, contentment) of Phil 4:11 — the contentment that is sufficient in itself because it is anchored in God.
Usage
"Equanimity is learned, not given."
"The level mind anchors elsewhere than the weather."
"Job's blessing under loss is equanimity made audible."