Equity

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈɛk.wɪ.ti/

Alternative forms

• æquity archaic

Origin

Attested in the 14th Century CE; from Old French equité, from Latin aequitas ("conformity”, “evenness”, “fairness").

Full definition of equity

Noun

1. Ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business.
• 2013-06-22, Engineers of a different kind, Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
2. (legal) A legal tradition that deals with remedies other than monetary relief, such as injunctions, divorces and similar actions.
• MacaulayEquity had been gradually shaping itself into a refined science which no human faculties could master without long and intense application.
3. (legal) Value of property minus liens or other encumbrances.
4. (legal) An equitable claim; an equity of redemption.an equity to a settlement, or wife's equity, etc.
• KentI consider the wife's equity to be too well settled to be shaken.
5. (accounting) Ownership interest in a company as determined by subtracting liabilities from assets.
6. Justice, impartiality or fairness.
• TillotsonChristianity secures both the private interests of men and the public peace, enforcing all justice and equity.