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281 results for: Neutral

Dictionary Entries (26 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
neu·tral    Audio Help   [noo-truhl, nyoo-] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.not taking part or giving assistance in a dispute or war between others: a neutral nation during World War II.
2.not aligned with or supporting any side or position in a controversy: The arbitrator was absolutely neutral.
3.of or belonging to a neutral state or party: neutral territory.
4.of no particular kind, characteristics, etc.; indefinite: a neutral personality that made no impression whatever; a sex-neutral job title.
5.(of a color or shade)
a.gray; without hue; of zero chroma; achromatic.
b.matching well with many or most other colors or shades, as white or beige.
6.Botany, Zoology. neuter.
7.not causing or reflecting a change in something: It is believed that the new tax law will be revenue neutral.
8.Chemistry. exhibiting neither acid nor alkaline qualities: neutral salts.
9.Physics.
a.(of a particle) having no charge.
b.(of an atom, molecule, collection of particles, fluid, or solid) having no net charge; electroneutral; not electrified.
c.not magnetized.
10.Phonetics. (of a vowel) pronounced with the tongue relaxed in a central position, as the a in alive; reduced.
–noun
11.a person or a nation that remains neutral, as in a controversy or war.
12.a citizen of a neutral nation during a war.
13.Machinery, Automotive. the position or state of disengaged gears or other interconnecting parts: in neutral.
14.a neutral color.
[Origin: 1400–50; late ME < L neutrālis grammatically neuter. See neuter, -al1]

—Related forms
neu·tral·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 2. impartial, disinterested, dispassionate, uninvolved, unbiased.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  neutral
Part of Speech:  adjective
Definition:  Not inclining toward or actively taking either side in a matter under dispute.
Synonyms:  impartial, neuter, nonaligned, nonpartisan, unbiased, uncommitted, uninvolved, unprejudiced
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  neutral
Part of Speech:  adjective
Definition:  Feeling or showing no strong emotional involvement.
Synonyms:  detached, disinterested, dispassionate, impersonal, indifferent
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  neutral
Part of Speech:  adjective
Definition:  Without definite or distinctive characteristics.
Synonyms:  bland, colorless, indistinctive
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.


Encyclopedia Articles (250 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Neutral Nation, group of Native North American tribes of the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 17th cent. they occupied the territory along the northern shore of Lake Erie. They then numbered some 12,000. Their culture was substantially that of the Eastern Woodlands area (see under Natives, North American). Father Joseph Daillon visited them in 1626 and reported that their customs were very similar to those of the Huron. The French gave the Neutral Nation its name because of its neutrality in the Iroquois-Huron wars. This neutrality, however, was short-lived, for when the remnants of the Huron joined (1649) them, the Iroquois Confederacy practically destroyed the Neutral Nation. A few survivors assimilated with the Seneca.

See G. K. Wright, The Neutral Indians (1963).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press


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