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• equity
  equity

  noun

  the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality.
• Equity
  Equity

  noun

  the actors' trade union

equity

American  

[ek-wi-tee] / ˈɛk wɪ ti /

noun

• equities
  plural

1. the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality.

   the equity of Solomon.

   Synonyms:

   justice, objectivity, justness, disinterest

   Antonyms:

   discrimination, bias, injustice, prejudice, partisanship, partiality, inequity

2. something that is fair and just.

   The concepts and principles of health equities and inequities are important to society as a whole.

3. the policy or practice of accounting for the differences in each individual’s starting point when pursuing a goal or achievement, and working to remove barriers to equal opportunity, as by providing support based on the unique needs of individual students or employees.

4. Law.

   1. Also called chancery.  the application of the dictates of conscience or the principles of natural justice to the settlement of controversies.

   2. Also called chancery.  a system of jurisprudence or a body of doctrines and rules developed in England and followed in the U.S., serving to supplement and remedy the limitations and the inflexibility of the common law.

   3. an equitable or legally valid right or claim.

   4. equity of redemption.

5. the monetary value of a property or business beyond any amounts owed on it in mortgages, claims, liens, etc..

   Over the years, they have carefully avoided tapping into their home equity for unnecessary expenses.

6. Informal. ownership, especially when considered as the right to share in future profits or appreciation in value.

7. the interest of the owner of common stock in a corporation.

8. (in a margin account) the excess of the market value of the securities over any indebtedness.

9. Equity. Actors' Equity Association.

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equity ¹ British  

/ ˈɛkwɪtɪ /

noun

1. the quality of being impartial or reasonable; fairness

2. an impartial or fair act, decision, etc

3. law a system of jurisprudence founded on principles of natural justice and fair conduct. It supplements the common law and mitigates its inflexibility, as by providing a remedy where none exists at law

4. law an equitable right or claim

   equity of redemption

5. the interest of ordinary shareholders in a company

6. the market value of a debtor's property in excess of all debts to which it is liable

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Equity ² British  

/ ˈɛkwɪtɪ /

noun

1. Full name: Actors' Equity Association.  the actors' trade union

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equity ¹ Cultural  

1. In real estate, the financial value of someone's property over and above the amount the person owes on mortgages. For example, if you buy a house for $100,000, paying $20,000 down and borrowing $80,000, your equity in the house is $20,000. As you pay off the principal of the loan, your equity will rise.

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equity ² Cultural  

1. A body of rules or customs based on general principles of fair play rather than on common law or statutory law.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• equities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of equity

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English equite, equitee, equyte, from Old French equité, from Latin aequitāt-, stem of aequitās “evenness, smoothness, fairness”; see equi-, -ty ²

Explanation

Equity is the state or quality of being fair. In classrooms, it's important to establish equity as any hint of unfairness turns everyone against the teacher. In finance, equity refers to the value of a business or piece of property after subtracting the amount of the mortgage. Also in finance, equities are stocks, in contrast to bonds. Equity is from Middle English equite, from Old French équité, from Latin aequitas "equality," from aequus "equal."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

equity Equity equities

The company had launched the buyback in December 2024 as it set out new targets for higher fee results and return on equity over the 2025-2027 period, among other goals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Investors include private equity giant Blackstone, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and a venture capital fund chaired by former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

The latest bout of strikes between the foes has further stoked worries about inflation that has put pressure on central banks to hike interest rates, which has in turn jolted equity markets.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

This year, the artificial-intelligence trade has lifted the stock market — and kept households with growing equity portfolios spending, he added.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Our school is all about social justice and equity, so our clubs all have to have some kind of social consciousness to them.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Equity Residential, which owns about 15,000 apartments in the L.A. metro area, did not respond to a list of questions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Pluralsight, a tech-skills learning platform, was bought by Vista Equity Partners in 2021 with debt from lenders including Blue Owl, Ares Management, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

This is not the first time outside money has been accepted by FSG, with global sports investment firm Dynasty Equity purchasing 3% for an undisclosed amount in 2023.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

An investment Substack, Maverick Equity Research, calculated that most of the Berkshire purchases in the second quarter were done at 1.4 times book value.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

“Shorting Home Equity Mezzanine Tranches” was just a fancy way to describe Mike Burry’s idea of betting against U.S. home loans: buying credit default swaps on the crappiest triple-B slices of subprime mortgage bonds.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

"The volatility priced around that outcome across rates, forex and equities could therefore be significant."

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

If you are less than comfortable having 100% invested in equities, there’s nothing wrong with starting to diversify now.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

Still, equities struggled as tech firms once again bore the brunt of selling, tracking a retreat in their counterparts on Wall Street.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

What Nvidia says about its product ramp with the upcoming Rubin platform will be a focus area for investors, Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager of equities at Northwestern Mutual, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026

On that volume, and on those conditions, bargains will be made, prices established, debts contracted, values adjusted, and equities created.

From Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, On the Free Coinage of Silver; in the United States Senate, May 12 and 13, 1890 by John P. (John Percival) Jones

Related Words

• capital
• investment