Neutralities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state of being impartial or unbiased in situations or conflicts
2. The quality of not taking sides, especially in political or diplomatic matters
3. The existence of conditions or policies that do not favor any party or group in a dispute

Etymology: "Neutralities" is simply the plural of "neutrality," used when several distinct states of non-alignment are being compared, such as the different stances nations take in a conflict. The plural form is the one to note here: it treats neutrality as a countable quality, something a country can have in one arrangement and not another. The noun "neutrality" came into English through Middle French "neutralité," which in turn came from Medieval Latin "neutralitas." Its building blocks are "neutral," itself from Latin "neuter" meaning "neither one nor the other," and the English suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun of quality. So the word's core idea is literally "the state of being neither," a sense that stays close to its Latin roots even when applied to diplomacy.

Synonyms: impartiality, indifference, objectivity, detachment, nonalignment

Antonyms: partisanship, bias, alignment, favoritism