| 释义 |
equity|ˈɛkwɪtɪ|
Forms: 4–6 equite, -yte, (4 equitee, -ytee, -ytie, 5 eqwyte), 4–7 equitie, (6 æquitie, -ity), 6 equity.
[a. OF. equité = Pr. equitat, Sp. equidad, It. equità, ad. L. æquitāt-em, f. æquus even, fair.]
I. In general.
1. The quality of being equal or fair; fairness, impartiality; evenhanded dealing.
The L. æquitas was somewhat influenced in meaning by being adopted as the ordinary rendering of Gr. ἐπιείκεια (see epiky), which meant reasonableness and moderation in the exercise of one's rights, and the disposition to avoid insisting on them too rigorously. An approach to this sense is found in many of the earlier Eng. examples.
c1315Shoreham 154 Thet hys hys pryvete Of hys domes in equyte. 1382Wyclif Mal. ii. 6 In equitee he walkide with me. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 491 Be justys he gave and eqwyte Til ilke man, þat his suld be. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 6 a, He [God] shal juge you in equite. 1535Coverdale Job xxix. 14 Equity was my crowne. 1588J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 19 Weigh it in the ballance of equitie. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 10 They can with no show of equity challenge vs for changing and correcting. 1660Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. iii. vi. §i. 399 Not to punish any man more than the law compels us; that's equity. 1673Rules of Civility (ed. 2) 141 The person of honour is in equity to go in first. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. II. viii. 32 These princes readily acknowledged the equity of his claim. a1832Mackintosh Revol. Wks. 1846 II. 158 Those principles of equity and policy on which religious liberty is founded. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. i. (1873) 257 There is a singular equity and absence of party passion.
2. concr. What is fair and right; something that is fair and right. rarely in pl.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. vi. 144 Amonges þise þinges sitteþ þe heye makere..to don equite. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 305 He dede equite to alle euene forth his powere. 1483Caxton Cato A viij, That he may do equyte and justyce. 1875Manning Mission H. Ghost x. 267 The equities which we owe to our neighbour.
II. In Jurisprudence.
3. The recourse to general principles of justice (the naturalis æquitas of Roman jurists) to correct or supplement the provisions of the law. equity of a statute: the construction of a statute according to its reason and spirit, so as to make it apply to cases for which it does not expressly provide.
1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 6 a, They bee taken by the equitie of the statute. 1642Perkins Prof. Bk. iv. §270. 120 Such Assetts are not taken by the equitie of the Statute of Gloucester. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law ii. 3 Chancellors..moderated the rigour of the law according..to equity.
4. a. In England (hence in Ireland and the United States), the distinctive name of a system of law existing side by side with the common and statute law (together called ‘law’ in a narrower sense), and superseding these, when they conflict with it.
The original notion was that of sense 3, a decision ‘in equity’ being understood to be one given in accordance with natural justice, in a case for which the law did not provide adequate remedy, or in which its operation would have been unfair. These decisions, however, were taken as precedents, and thus ‘equity’ early became an organized system of rules, not less definite and rigid than those of ‘law’; though the older notion long continued to survive in the language of legal writers, and to some extent to influence the practice of equity judges. In England, equity was formerly administered by a special class of tribunals, of which the Court of Chancery was chief; but since 1873 all the branches of the High Court administer both ‘law’ and ‘equity’, it being provided that where the two differ, the rules of equity are to be followed. Nevertheless, the class of cases formerly dealt with by the Court of Chancery are still reserved to the Chancery Division of the High Court.
1591Lambarde Arch (1635) 46 And likewise in his Court of Equitie he doth..cancell and shut up the rigour of the generall Law. Ibid. 58 The Iustices should informe him [the King] of the Law, and the Chancellor of Equitie. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman II. xxxix. 116 He will always have the worst of it in equity, whatever he may have at common law. 1765–9Blackstone Comm. (J.), In the court of Chancery, there are two distinct tribunals; the one ordinary, being a court of common law; the other extra⁓ordinary, being a court of equity. 1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. 40 Equity sometimes signifies a species of law. 1853Wharton Pa. Digest 708 Equity will grant relief when..a contract is made under a mistake. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law ii. 3 There are settled and inviolable rules of equity, which require to be moderated by the rules of good conscience.
b. Defined so as to include other systems analogous to this; e.g. the prætorium jus of the Romans.
1861Maine Anc. Law ii. (1870) 28 What I call equity..any body of rules existing by the side of the original civil law, founded on distinct principles and claiming incidentally to supersede the civil law in virtue of a superior sanctity inherent in those principles.
5. a. An equitable right, i.e. one recognizable by a court of equity. Often in pl.
a1626Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law 65 Upon which agreement in Writing, there ariseth an Equitie or Honestie, that the land should goe according to those agreements. 1826–30Kent Comm. II. 118 The wife's equity to a suitable provision for the maintenance of herself and her children. 1844Williams Real Prop. (ed. 12) 177 Incidental equities are also to be recognized by the courts respectively and every judge thereof. 1883Sir E. E. Kay in Law Times Rep. XLIX. 77/2 It was hardly said that he was entitled to any charge, or lien, or equity on this particular fund.
b. equity of redemption: the right which a mortgagor who has in law forfeited his estate has of redeeming it within a reasonable time by payment of the principal and interest. equity to a settlement: a wife's equitable right to have settled upon her any properties coming to her after marriage.
1712Arbuthnot John Bull 67 But has not Esquire South the equity of redemption? 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 159 This reasonable advantage, allowed to mortgagors, is called the equity of redemption. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xiv. 92 Twenty years' adverse possession, by a person claiming the equity of redemption, will bar the rightful owner.
c. (See quot. 1966.) orig. U.S.
1904E. S. Meade in Pol. Sci. Q. Mar. 50 Its preferred stock is quoted at..prices which indicate a general conviction that the equity in the company is worth little. 1928New Statesman 28 July, Finance Suppl. p. vi, Out of the combined issued capital of {pstlg}16,629,000 the public put up 93 per cent. of the cash required, but received only 21.8 per cent. of the equity—that is the balance of profits remaining after the fixed dividends have been paid on the Preferred capital. 1930Times (Financial Rev.) 11 Feb. p. iii/2 It was widely imagined that more money was to be made in high pressure equities than in anæmic mortgages. 1966A. Gilpin Dict. Econ. Terms (1967) 72 Equities, the ordinary shares of a limited company. They carry the right to the residue of a company's assets after it has paid all its creditors, and share in the distribution of profits, if any, after interest has been paid to preference share-holders and debenture holders each year. 1969Times (Suppl.) 5 May p. iii/1 The shift in portfolio preferences of institutional investors from bonds to equities..is even more rapid..than the statistics suggest. 1970Money Which? Sept. 143/2 The ordinary shares of companies (also called equities) are bought and sold on a Stock Exchange.
attrib.1930Daily Express 8 Sept. 10/2 Purchasers of equity securities of the speculative type. 1931Ibid. 16 Oct. 14/5 To pay 5 per cent. on the equity shares and meet the preferential and debenture interests, a trading profit of {pstlg}111,000 is necessary. 1953Economist 4 Apr. 18/2 Canadian tax practice..has made loan finance more attractive to corporations than equity finance. 1965McGraw-Hill Dict. Mod. Econ. 181 Equity capital, the total investment in a business by all its owners.
6. attrib. and Comb., as equity-bar, equity court, equity-judge, equity-lawyer. Also equity-draughtsman, a barrister who draws pleadings in equity.
a1832Bentham Justice & Codific. Petit. Wks. 1843 V. 484 Turn first to the self-styled equity courts.
Sense 6 in Dict. becomes 7. Add: [II.] [5.] d. The net value of mortgaged property after deduction of charges outstanding on it; more generally, the amount of a debt which has been paid off. Chiefly U.S.
1889in Cent. Dict. 1932Bankers Mag. (U.S.) Feb. 152/1 A building over-capitalized with mortgages, that is to say, over-financed, is not a good thing for the community in which it is situated, where the equity is in danger of collapse through the foreclosure of excessive mortgages. 1945[see severance n. 2 d]. 1969Appraisal Jrnl. Jan. 31 (heading) Mortgage-equity capitalization and after-tax equity yield. 1986What Mortgage June 27/1 Once you have lived in a mortgaged house for some years..you will have a reasonable amount of equity.
6. (With capital initial.) A shortened form of the name of various actors' trade unions, as the Actors' Equity Association (in the U.S.), the British Actors' Equity Association, etc.
[1913N.Y. Times 17 Nov. 9/3 At a meeting of the Actors' Equity Association yesterday afternoon at the Little Theatre, the first meeting since it was launched six months ago, a contract form was drawn up which will be submitted to the Theatrical Managers' Association.] 1930Stage 20 Feb. 14/4 In principles and methods the British Equity, if the forecast is approved, will be modelled on the American Actors' Equity Association. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage v. 59 The present position is that both Equity and the Stage Guild..are functioning side by side. 1962Listener 18 Jan. 151/2 Before the Equity dispute with the ITV contractors began. 1981Q. Crisp How to become Virgin ix. 118, I know I am an actor because I have an Equity card. |