“b: to make such an allowance or correction in as will reduce to a common standard or obtain a correct result”
It’s right there in the definition you provided.
From my previous post:
In mathematics, yes. In linguistics, not as precise as that. Equating one thing to another in the way we communicate is used more broadly to categorize, analogize or classify things or ideas through comparison. Equating lower taxes with higher revenue or equating higher spending with better results, for example.
I realize it’s kind of a trivial thing to argue over, but I tend to equate arguing over technicalities with amusement.
Only someone with no sense of proportion, severity, or scale would see those things as comparable.
Both examples indicate the improper use of the term, so they are not supportive of the argument. Even though two things may have a relationship, it does not in itself indicate any equivalency.