Equity definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

View all »
Definitions (27)

American Heritage Dictionary (10)

noun The state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair.
noun Something that is just, impartial, and fair.
noun Law Justice applied in circumstances covered by law yet influenced by principles of ethics and fairness.

7 more from this dictionary »

Century Dictionary (13)

That which is equally right or just to all concerned; equal or impartial justice; fairness; impartiality. This Kyng is so rightfulle and of equytee in his Doomes that men may go sykerlyche thorghe out alle his Contree. Mandeville, Travels, p. 198. He dede equite to alle euene-forth his powere. Piers Plowman (B), xix. 305. With righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. Ps. xcviii. 9. Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all parts of life. Emerson, Compensation.
In law: Fairness in the adjustment of conflicting interests; the application of the dictates of good conscience to the settlement of controversies: often called natural equity. Equity in Law is the same that the Spirit is in Religion, what every one pleases to make it. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 46.
The system of jurisprudence or body of doctrines and rules as to what is equitable and fair and what is not, by which the defects of, and the incidental hardships resulting from, the inflexibility of the forms and the universality of the rules of the common-law tribunals are corrected or remedied, and substantial justice is done. In the early history of the English people it was found, as society advanced, that many grievances arose which were not included in the classes of cases which the common law authorized the judges to take cognizance of. Hence it became customary for those who could not obtain redress in the courts, because no common-law action appropriate to their grievance had been sanctioned, or because the common law, while equitable and fair in its general application, was unfair in its application to their particular case, to apply to the king in Parliament or in council for justice. Petitioners in such cases (if it could be shown that there was no adequate remedy at law, or that the operation of the common law was unfair in its application to the particular case in hand) were referred to the chancellor (originally an ecclesiastic), the keeper of the king's conscience, who, after hearing the parties, required what was equitable and just to be done, under penalty of imprisonment, excommunication, etc. Thus, the common-law remedy of collecting a debt by getting judgment and execution became established at a time when property consisted almost entirely of lands and goods; but as wealth increased, and appeared in the forms of intangible property, such as valuable rights in action, contracts, securities, patents, copyrights, etc., the chancellor would entertain a complaint (called a bill in equity) from a creditor, setting forth that he was unable to collect his judgment out of property that could be reached by legal process, and that the debtor had other property which ought to be applied in payment, and asking that the defendant be compelled to do what equity and good conscience required to be done. The chancellor (the Court of Chancery) could compel the debtor to assign his intangible property to a receiver, a mode of relief which the law had never conferred on a sheriff the power to afford. Or if a creditor, to secure his demand, obtained from his debtor a deed which in terms was an absolute conveyance, and was proceeding to enforce it as if it were so intended, the Court of Chancery would entertain a complaint from the debtor offering to pay the debt, and asking to be allowed to redeem the land. The steady growth of the complexities of property and of business and social relations increased the cases requiring equitable remedies to supply the deficiency of common-law remedies, or equitable interference with the unconscionable enforcement of common-law rules, until the procedure in equity developed a substantive system of doctrines and remedies covering a great variety of subjects scarcely contemplated by the common law. In England and the United States the doctrines of the common law have now generally been subjected to the established modifications introduced by equity, and in many jurisdictions the two systems of rules thus merged and modified are administered by the same courts. This new system is generally known in the United States as the code practice, or the new or reformed procedure. There is not … a single department of the law which is more completely fenced in by principle, or that is better limited by considerations of public convenience, both in doctrine and discipline, than equity. Story, Misc. Writings, p. 540.

10 more from this dictionary »

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet (3)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (46)

Residential real estate prices still have another 10\% to fall, thus putting lenders at greater risk given that their equity is about as lifeless as the guy face down in the pool. — The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
- Latin American equity markets rise, with sugar producer Cosan Ltd. leading advancers in Sao Paulo and helping the country's benchmark move toward its longest weekly winning streak in nearly a year. — Megite Technology News: What's Happening Right Now
It's metrics of different kinds of returns, that our return on our tangible assets and our equity are about 33\%, and so we've done a nice job of taking advantage of our balance sheet and leveraging it in their great returns.
The $601 million of equity impairments compares to a range of $300 to $400 million that we had estimated at Investor Day and reflects the continued decline in credit spreads for the bonds underlying domestic mutual funds, as well as, the decline in Japanese equity securities. — Financial Sector and Stocks Analysis from Seeking Alpha
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Brazilian shares led a sharp decline among Latin American equity markets Monday as commodity-related stocks fell alongside prices for natural resources. — MarketWatch.com - Top Stories

More examples »

equity

View all »
Definitions (27)

American Heritage Dictionary (10)

Century Dictionary (13)

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet (3)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (46)

Tags

Stats

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

Pronunciations
Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

equity

View all » Definitions (27)

View all » Examples (46)

Tags

Stats

stop updating On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word » Related

synonyms:

synonym:

Etymologies (2)

Pronunciations Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

View all »
Definitions (27)

View all »
Examples (46)

stop updating
On Twitter

Add a related word »
Related

Pronunciations
Record your own »