Neutral or neutrality may refer to:

Mathematics and natural science

Biology

* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity

Chemistry and physics

Neutralization (chemistry) In chemistry, neutralization or neutralisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is a chemical reaction in which acid and a base (chemistry), base react with an equivalent quantity of each other. In a r ...

, a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base react quantitatively with each other * Neutral solution, a chemical solution which is neither acidic nor basic * Neutral particle, a particle without electrical charge

Mathematics

Neutral element In mathematics, an identity element or neutral element of a binary operation is an element that leaves unchanged every element when the operation is applied. For example, 0 is an identity element of the addition of real numbers. This concept is use ...

or identity element, in mathematics, a special element with respect to a binary operation, such that if the operation is applied to any element in a set, that element is unchanged * Neutral vector, a multivariate random variable that exhibits a particular type of statistical independence (

Dirichlet distribution In probability and statistics, the Dirichlet distribution (after Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet), often denoted \operatorname(\boldsymbol\alpha), is a family of continuous multivariate probability distributions parameterized by a vector of pos ...

)

Philosophy

Neutrality (philosophy) In philosophy, neutrality is the tendency to not take a ''side'' in a conflict (physical or ideological), which may not suggest neutral parties do not have a side or are not a side themselves. In colloquial use, ''neutral'' can be synonymous with ' ...

, the absence of declared or intentional bias * Neutrality (psychoanalysis) *

Neutral level In semiotics the neutral level of a sign is the "trace" left behind; the physical or material creation or remains of esthesic and poietic processes, levels, and analyses of symbolic forms. A part of all signs according to a tri-partitional defini ...

, the physical or material traces of esthesic and poietic processes identified in semiotics

Politics

Neutral country A neutral country is a sovereign state, state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, Collective Sec ...

, a polity such as a state that favors or supports none of the parties involved in a disagreement, conflict, or war

Political principles

* Neutral point of view, a stance or tone that is free from

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

(see

journalistic objectivity Journalistic objectivity is a principle within the discussion of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity may refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualit ...

) *

Gender neutrality Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguish ...

, a principle which advocates

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

practices and behaviors which are neutral in regard to

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

* Humanitarian neutrality, a principle governing humanitarian responses * Medical neutrality, a principle of noninterference with medical services in times of armed conflict and civil unrest * Network neutrality, a principle which advocates that all data on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

be treated equally *

Search neutrality Search neutrality is a principle that search engines should have no editorial policies other than that their results be comprehensive, impartial and based solely on relevance. This means that when a user types in a search engine query, the engine ...

, a principle that search engines should have no editorial policies other than that their results be comprehensive, impartial and based solely on relevance *

Neutrality (social choice) Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction ...

, a principle that a voting rule should not discriminate apriori between candidates.

Other uses in politics

Neutrality of money Neutrality of money is the idea that a change in the stock of money affects only nominal variables in the economy such as prices, wages, and exchange rates, with no effect on real variables, like employment, real GDP, and real consumption. Ne ...

, the notion that a change in the supply of money in an economy has no tangible effects *

Neutral Confederacy The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ) was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its wider territory extend ...

, historic Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands

Technology

* Neutral (usually abbreviated "N"), the state where no gears are selected for a motor vehicle's transmission *

Neutral wire In electrical engineering, ground (or earth) and neutral are circuit conductors used in alternating current (AC) electrical systems. The neutral conductor carries alternating current (in tandem with one or more ''phase '' conductors) during ...

, a conductor that provides a low impedance path to earth

Arts and media

* ''Neutrality'' (film), a 1949 Spanish drama * Neutral alignment, a categorization of the moral and ethical perspective of some characters, creatures and societies in some role-playing games **

Neutral (Dungeons & Dragons) In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters, and creatures. Most versions of the game feature a system in whic ...

, an alignment in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game *

Neutral Records Neutral Records is an independent record label. Glenn Branca ran the label during the No Wave and post-punk scene on the Lower East Side, New York City, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among their releases were early records by Swans and the ...

, a record label

Other uses

* Neutral, Kansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Neutral color, a description sometimes used to characterise the color gray