Equality or equity?
equality is a noun meaning “The fact of being equal”; equity is a noun meaning “Fairness, impartiality, or justice as determined in light of "natural law" or…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) equity is about as common as equality.
What is the difference between equality and equity?
| equality | equity | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | The fact of being equal The fact of being equal, of having the same value | Fairness, impartiality, or justice as determined in light of "natural law" or "natural right" 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… |
| Example | none recorded | ...the mortgagor retains ‘equitable title’ or the ‘equity of redemption’….The equity of redemption permits the mortgagor to regain legal… |
| Forms | equalities | equities |
| Pronunciation | /ɪˈkwɒl.ɪ.ti/ /ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/ [ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ɾi] | /ˈɛk.wɪ.ti/ /i.kwɪʈ.i/ |
| In writing | 18 times per million words | 20 times per million words |
Sources: equality and equity in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of equality and equity
equality
- 1
The fact of being equal
- 2
The fact of being equal, of having the same value
- 3
The equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences
equity
- 1
Fairness, impartiality, or justice as determined in light of "natural law" or "natural right"
- 2
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…
- 3
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…
...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…
- 4
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
- 5
Value of property minus liens or other encumbrances
I have a lot of equity in my house
- 6
Ownership, especially in terms of net monetary value of some business
- 7
Ownership interest in a company as determined by subtracting liabilities from assets
- 8
A player's expected share of the pot
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, equality or equity?
equality appears 18 times per million words; equity 20 times per million words.
equality 18 times per million wordsequity 20 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search equality vs equity?
“equality vs equity” is searched about 18,100 times a month on Google and 1,190 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“equity vs equality”, “equality or equity”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.