Standard Lemma guide

equity

noun · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Western: /ˈɛk.wɪ.ti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • South-Asia: /i.kwɪʈ.i/
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 K W AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: inequity, iniquity

2

noun

Meaning 2

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

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

Examples

  • 1800, Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon in Mayor, &c. of Southampton v. Graves (1800), 8 T. R. 592. A Court of equity knows its own province.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

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

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Various related senses originating with the Court of Chancery in late Medieval 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: England, countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Various senses related to net value

Value of property minus liens or other encumbrances.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, finance, law

Examples

  • I have a lot of equity in my house.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Various senses related to net value

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, finance

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Various senses related to net value

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: accounting, business, finance

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Various senses related to net value

A player's expected share of the pot.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, card-games, finance, poker

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Equality

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, nonstandard, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

conformity with rules or standards

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the judge recognized the fairness of my claim

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fairness

Antonyms: inequity

Broader terms: justice, justness

Narrower terms: non-discrimination, sportsmanship

11

noun

Meaning 11

the ownership interest of shareholders in a corporation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: interest, stake

Narrower terms: sweat equity

12

noun

Meaning 12

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: assets

History

Etymology

From Middle English equitee, equytee, from Old French equité, from Latin aequitās (“uniformity; impartiality; fairness”).

Across languages

Translations

128 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: արդարություն (ardarutʻyun) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Bulgarian: справедливост (spravedlivost) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Bulgarian: безпристрастие (bezpristrastie) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公平 (gōngpíng) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公平性 (gōngpíngxìng) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公正 (gōngzhèng) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公正性 (gōngzhèngxìng) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Czech: spravedlnost — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Czech: rovnost — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Danish: rimelighed — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Danish: retfærdighed — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Dutch: gerechtigheid — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Esperanto: justeco — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Esperanto: senpartieco — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Esperanto: egaleco — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Finnish: oikeudenmukaisuus — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • French: impartialité — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • French: solidarité — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Galician: equidade — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Gerechtigkeit — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Gleichheit — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Fairness — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Billigkeit — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Gleichstellung — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • German: Gleichberechtigung — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Greek: δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosýni) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Hungarian: méltányosság — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Hungarian: jogosság — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Irish: cóir — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Irish: cothromas — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: equità — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: parità — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: uguaglianza — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: giustizia — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: imparzialità — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Italian: giustezza — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Latin: aequitās — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Māori: mana taurite — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Portuguese: equidade — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Portuguese: equanimidade — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Romanian: imparțialitate — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Romanian: echitate — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Romanian: nepărtinire — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Russian: справедли́вость (spravedlívostʹ) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Russian: беспристра́стность (bespristrástnostʹ) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Russian: беспристра́стие (bespristrástije) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Spanish: equidad — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Spanish: epiqueya — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Telugu: ఈక్విటీ (īkviṭī) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Ottoman Turkish: عدالت (ʼadalet) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Ottoman Turkish: انصاف (insâf) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Ottoman Turkish: قسط (kıst) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Ottoman Turkish: عدل (ʼadl) — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Vietnamese: sự bình đẳng — justice, impartiality and fairness
  • Catalan: equitat — legal tradition
  • Chinese Mandarin: 衡平 (héngpíng) — legal tradition
  • Chinese Mandarin: 衡平法 (héngpíngfǎ) — legal tradition
  • Danish: billighedsret — legal tradition
  • Finnish: kohtuudenmukaisuus — legal tradition
  • Finnish: equity — legal tradition
  • German: Billigkeitsrecht — legal tradition
  • Irish: cothromas — legal tradition
  • Italian: equità — legal tradition
  • Japanese: 衡平法 — legal tradition
  • Russian: пра́во справедли́вости (právo spravedlívosti) — legal tradition
  • Bulgarian: нетен капитал (neten kapital) — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Chinese Mandarin: 淨值 /净值 (jìngzhí) — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Czech: čisté jmění — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Czech: čistá hodnota — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Danish: friværdi — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Esperanto: neta kapitalo — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Finnish: vapaa arvo — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Galician: valor líquido — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • German: Aktienkapital — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Irish: cothromas — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Portuguese: valor líquido — the value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
  • Chinese Mandarin: 股權 /股权 (gǔquán) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Chinese Mandarin: 權益 /权益 (quányì) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Danish: aktie — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Dutch: aandeel — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Esperanto: akcio — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Finnish: oma pääoma — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • French: action — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Galician: accións — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Georgian: კაპიტალი (ḳaṗiṭali) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • German: Aktienkapital — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • German: Aktienanteil — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • German: Aktien — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • German: Unternehmensbeteiligungen — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Greek: μετοχικό κεφάλαιο (metochikó kefálaio) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Hungarian: részesedés — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Hungarian: részvény — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Hungarian: törzsrészvény — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Māori: mana taurite — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Norwegian Bokmål: aksje — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: aksje — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Portuguese: valor real — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Romanian: capital propriu — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Russian: капита́л (kapitál) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Russian: со́бственный капита́л (sóbstvennyj kapitál) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Russian: со́бственные сре́дства (sóbstvennyje srédstva) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Russian: а́кция (ákcija) — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Spanish: acciones — ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
  • Bulgarian: нетен капитал (neten kapital) — ownership interest in a company
  • Catalan: patrimoni net — ownership interest in a company
  • Chinese Mandarin: 股權 /股权 (gǔquán) — ownership interest in a company
  • Chinese Mandarin: 權益 /权益 (quányì) — ownership interest in a company
  • Danish: egenkapital — ownership interest in a company
  • Faroese: eginogn — ownership interest in a company
  • Finnish: oma pääoma — ownership interest in a company
  • French: capitaux propres — ownership interest in a company
  • German: Eigenkapital — ownership interest in a company
  • German: Reinvermögen — ownership interest in a company
  • Greek: καθαρή θέση (katharí thési) — ownership interest in a company
  • Greek: ίδια κεφάλαια (ídia kefálaia) — ownership interest in a company
  • Greek: καθαρή περιουσία (katharí periousía) — ownership interest in a company
  • Hungarian: saját tőke — ownership interest in a company
  • Hungarian: tiszta haszon/nyereség — ownership interest in a company
  • Italian: patrimonio netto — ownership interest in a company
  • Italian: capitale netto — ownership interest in a company
  • Japanese: 自己資本 (jiko shihon) — ownership interest in a company
  • Japanese: 純資産 (junshisan) — ownership interest in a company
  • Māori: tūtanga — ownership interest in a company
  • Norwegian Bokmål: egenkapital — ownership interest in a company
  • Norwegian Bokmål: eigenkapital — ownership interest in a company
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: eigenkapital — ownership interest in a company
  • Spanish: patrimonio neto — ownership interest in a company
  • Swedish: eget kapital — ownership interest in a company
Real reading context

equity in complete knowledge articles