EQUITY

fairness, equity

(noun) conformity with rules or standards; “the judge recognized the fairness of my claim”

equity

(noun) the ownership interest of shareholders in a corporation

equity

(noun) the difference between the market value of a property and the claims held against it

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology

Noun

equity (countable and uncountable, plural equities)

Fairness, impartiality, or justice as determined in light of "natural law" or "natural right".

(legal) Various related senses originating with the Court of Chancery in late Medieval England

(legal) The power of a court of law having extra-statutory discretion, to decide legal matters and to provide legal relief apart from, though not in violation of, the prevailing legal code; in some cases, a court "sitting in equity" may provide relief to a complainant should the code be found either inapplicable or insufficient to do so.

(legal) A right which accrues to a party in a transaction because of the nature of the transaction itself, and which is exercisable upon a change of circumstances or conditions; in other words, an equitable claim.

(legal, England) The body of law which was developed in the English Court of Chancery, which Court had extra-statutory discretion, and is now administered alongside the common law of Britain.

(finance) Various senses related to net value

(legal, finance) Value of property minus liens or other encumbrances.

(business) Ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business.

(accounting) Ownership interest in a company as determined by subtracting liabilities from assets.

(poker) A player's expected share of the pot.

Source: Wiktionary

---

Eq"ui*ty, n.; pl. Equities. Etym: [F. équité, L. aequitas, fr. aequus even, equal. See Equal.]

1. Equality of rights; natural justice or right; the giving, or desiring to give, to each man his due, according to reason, and the law of God to man; fairness in determination of conflicting claims; impartiality. Christianity secures both the private interests of men and the public peace, enforcing all justice and equity. Tillotson.

2. (Law)

Definition: An equitable claim; an equity of redemption; as, an equity to a settlement, or wife's equity, etc. I consider the wife's equity to be too well settled to be shaken. Kent.

3. (Law)

Definition: A system of jurisprudence, supplemental to law, properly so called, and complemental of it. Equity had been gradually shaping itself into a refined science which no human faculties could master without long and intense application. Macaulay.

Note: Equitable jurisprudence in England and in the United States grew up from the inadequacy of common-law forms to secure justice in all cases; and this led to distinct courts by which equity was applied in the way of injunctions, bills of discovery, bills for specified performance, and other processes by which the merits of a case could be reached more summarily or more effectively than by common-law suits. By the recent English Judicature Act (1873), however, the English judges are bound to give effect, in common-law suits, to all equitable rights and remedies; and when the rules of equity and of common law, in any particular case, conflict, the rules of equity are to prevail. In many jurisdictions in the United States, equity and common law are thus blended; in others distinct equity tribunals are still maintained. See Chancery. Equity of redemption (Law), the advantage, allowed to a mortgageor, of a certain or reasonable time to redeem lands mortgaged, after they have been forfeited at law by the nonpayment of the sum of money due on the mortgage at the appointed time. Blackstone.

Syn.

– Right; justice; impartiality; rectitude; fairness; honesty; uprightness. See Justice.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---