EQUITY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Equity

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/ˈɛkwəti/ Listen

noun

Equity n. (pl. equities)

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."

2.

(Law) 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."

3.

(Law) 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." 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.

Synonyms: Right; justice; impartiality; rectitude; fairness; honesty; uprightness. See Justice.

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Etymology of 'Equity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Equity" Quotes from Famous Books

... a magistrate of police, who, curious to say, was as honest as he was just. He administered equity with as much care before as after dinner; he took no bribes even in the matter of advancing his family; he was rather merciful than otherwise to the poor, and he never punished the rich ostentatiously, in order to display his and his law's disrespect ...

— Vikram and the Vampire • Sir Richard F. Burton

... Equity abolished in the reign of Charles I. It met in the Camera Alba, or Whitehall, and the room appears to have retained the name of the ...

— The Journal to Stella • Jonathan Swift

... service." In his message to Congress he declared that it was Chinese laborers alone who are undesirable, and that other Chinamen—students, professional men, merchants—should be encouraged to come to the United States. "We have no right," he wrote, "to claim the open door in China unless we do equity ...

— History of the United States, Volume 6 (of 6) • E. Benjamin Andrews

... headquarters were maintained at the State Fair by the Equity League of Jackson. Furnishings were loaned by Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Warren from their beautiful home "Fairview." A rest room for mothers and babies was provided, other tired visitors were also welcomed and the suffrage ...

— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume VI • Various

... to remove them. But it has not entered within our design to pursue them into their fastnesses and domiciles. Nevertheless, in compliance with a request which is both proper and candid, I will do what I can to examine with all the equity that I can command an essential part of Dr. Hort's system, which appears to exercise great ...

— The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels • John Burgon

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