ppl. a.
This is prob. the true reading (as suggested by Rowe) in Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. iii. 104, for ‘weale-ballanc’d’ of the Folios.
1. Exactly poised or equilibrated.
1629. Milton, Hymn Nativ., xii. While the Creator Great His constellations set, And the well-ballanc’t world on hinges hung.
2. Having an orderly or harmonious disposition of parts.
1859. J. White, Hist. France, 69. A tumultuous republic of knights and barons had become a well-balanced kingdom.
3. Having or betokening a good balance of the mental faculties; sane and sensible; not flighty or eccentric.
1861. Buckle, Civiliz., II. vi. 424. Hutcheson … rightly supposed, that an admiration of every kind of beauty … is essential to a complete and well-balanced mind.
1890. Besant, Demoniac, i. 7. A perfectly healthy, steady, and well-balanced young man.
1912. World, 7 May, 679/1. Mr. Long’s speech was a practical, well-balanced, and thoroughly sane fighting speech.
