Equitable

How to spell equitable

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce equitable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does equitable mean?

1. adjectiveFair and impartial, treating everyone involved in a reasonable and balanced way.
2. adjectiveRelating to the legal principles of equity, as distinct from strict statutory or common law rules.

Equitable in a sentence

• The manager proposed an equitable split of the bonus among the team.

• The court granted an equitable remedy rather than awarding damages.

• The divorcing couple sought an equitable division of their shared assets.

• She holds an equitable interest in the property under the trust.

Where does equitable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective aequus, which meant 'level, even, equal, or fair', and from it grew the noun aequitas, meaning 'evenness' or 'fairness'. English took the adjective form through Old French equitable in the late 1500s, carrying the sense of dealing fairly and impartially with everyone. The same aequus root sits behind a whole family of familiar words, including 'equal', 'equator' (the line that divides the globe evenly), and 'equity'. In law, 'equity' came to name a body of principles meant to soften the harshness of strict rules, so 'equitable' carries a precise legal flavour as well as its everyday one. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle: writers hear EK-wit-uh-bul and may drop or muddle the 'qu' and the schwa-heavy '-itable', but remembering the link to 'equal' and 'equity' keeps the 'equit-' stem firmly in place.

How the word is built

• equit- (from Latin aequus: equal, fair)
• -able (capable of, characterised by)