different between equity vs rectitude

English

Alternative forms

• æquity (archaic, poetic)
• equitie (archaic)

Etymology

Attested in 14th century; from the 13th century Old French equite, from Latin aequitas (“uniformity; impartiality; fairness”). Doublet of equality.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??k.w?.ti/

Noun

equity (countable and uncountable, plural equities)

1. Fairness, impartiality, or justice as determined in light of "natural law" or "natural right".
2. (law) Various related senses originating with the Court of Chancery in late Medieval England
   1. (law) The power of a court of law having extra-statutory discretion, to decide legal matters and to provide legal relief apart from, though not in violation of, the prevailing legal code; in some cases, a court "sitting in equity" may provide relief to a complainant should the code be found either inapplicable or insufficient to do so.
      • 1800, Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon in Mayor, &c. of Southampton v. Graves (1800), 8 T. R. 592.

        A Court of equity knows its own province.

      • 1851, Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St Leonards in Birch v. Joy (1851), 3 H. L. C. 598:

        "A Court of equity interposes only according to conscience."

      • 1848-55, Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England, Chapter IX:

        Equity had been gradually shaping itself into a refined science which no human faculties could master without long and intense application.

   2. (law) A right which accrues to a party in a transaction because of the nature of the transaction itself, and which is exercisable upon a change of circumstances or conditions; in other words, an equitable claim.
      • 1999, In Re Fitzgerald, 237 B.R. 252, 261 (Bkrtcy. D.Conn. 1999):

        "...the mortgagor retains ‘equitable title’ or the ‘equity of redemption’….The equity of redemption permits the mortgagor to regain legal title to the mortgaged property upon satisfying the conditions of the mortgage..."

      • 1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law

        The wife's equity does not, according to the adjudged cases, attach, except upon that part of her personal property in action which the husband cannot acquire without the assistance of a court of equity

   3. (law, England) The body of law which was developed in the English Court of Chancery, which Court had extra-statutory discretion, and is now administered alongside the common law of Britain.
3. (finance) Various senses related to net value
   1. (law, finance) Value of property minus liens or other encumbrances.

   2. (business) Ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business.
   3. (accounting) Ownership interest in a company as determined by subtracting liabilities from assets.
   4. (poker) A player's expected share of the pot.
4. (nonstandard) Equality

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “equity”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Etymology

From Middle English rectitude, from Middle French rectitude, from Late Latin rectit?d? (“straightness, uprightness”), from Latin rectus (“straight”), perfect passive participle of reg? (“regulate, guide”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???k.t?.tju?d/, /???k.t?.tju?d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???k.t?.tu?d/, /???k.t?.tju?d/

Noun

rectitude (countable and uncountable, plural rectitudes)

1. Straightness; the state or quality of having a constant direction and not being crooked or bent. [from 15th c.]
2. (now rare) The fact or quality of being right or correct; correctness of opinion or judgement. [from 15th c.]
   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 98:

     A consciousness of rectitude can be a terrible thing, and in those days I didn't just think that I was right: I thought that “we” (our group of International Socialists in particular) were being damn well proved right.

3. Conformity to the rules prescribed for moral conduct; (moral) uprightness, virtue. [from 16th c.]
   • 1776 July 4, Thomas Jefferson, et al., United States Declaration of Independence:

     We, therefore, the Repre?entatives of the united States of America, in General Congre?s, A?sembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of the?e Colonies, ?olemnly publi?h and declare, That the?e United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States […]

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:rectitude.

Synonyms

• (rightness of principle): honesty, integrity, morality

Translations

References

• rectitude in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• certitude

French

Etymology

From Late Latin rectit?d? (“straightness, uprightness”), from Latin rectus (“straight”), perfect passive participle of reg? (“regulate, guide”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k.ti.tyd/
• Homophone: rectitudes
• Hyphenation: rec?ti?tude

Noun

rectitude f (plural rectitudes)

1. rectitude

Derived terms

• rectitude politique

Further reading

• “rectitude” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• certitude