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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

Don’t miss: ‘My husband and I are at odds’: Should we tap our home equity or sell stocks to build a $100,000 emergency fund?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

However, a big chunk of the earnings consisted of paper gains from marking up equity investments in other companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Talarico, believing God is on the side of the oppressed and the marginalized, focuses his message to voters on equity and protecting personal freedom.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

He continues to recommend buying AI as an equity theme — the “hubris trade” of staying long AI stocks through the bubble.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

He was so smitten he went back every day for a week, making up dumb questions about home equity loans and IRAs.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Equity markets fluctuated ahead of the CPI release, though Seoul enjoyed another strong day as it claws back some of the huge tech-led losses sustained in July.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The media mogul’s live entertainment business Mari Group on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Britain’s ATG Entertainment from private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

FSG, who bought Liverpool in a £300m deal in 2010, previously sold a minority stake in the Anfield side to global sports investment firm Dynasty Equity.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

The advocates, including Digital Equity LA and the California Alliance for Digital Equity, compiled evidence to help commissioners determine whether the merger was in the public interest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Lippmann, who was forever adding data to his presentation, produced his latest version of “Shorting Mezzanine Home Equity Tranches” and walked Fewings through his argument.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

This is the job bonds are supposed to do: zig when equities zag.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

"The biggest risk for European equities is potentially stagflationary: climate change could simultaneously weaken productivity and growth, at the same time pushing food, energy, insurance costs, infrastructure spending and ultimately inflation structurally higher," she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Counting gains in volatile equities when they go up while subtracting everyday operating costs isn’t analysis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The funds focus on lower-risk infrastructure businesses, which act as a tidy diversifier between bonds and equities, portfolio manager Bertrand Cliquet told MarketWatch in an interview on Monday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

No other use can possibly be so high or so noble as that of maintaining all equities undisturbed.

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

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