Home › Health Sciences › Medical Ethics & Bioethics › equity

equity

EK-wih-tee /ˈɛkwɪti/

nounC1GREGMATIELTS

legalpoliticalmedical

The quality of being fair and impartial; in healthcare, ensuring that people receive the specific resources they need to reach an equal outcome.

Equity is different from equality. Equality gives everyone the same pair of shoes; equity gives everyone a pair of shoes that fits.

The story behind the word. From the Latin 'aequitas,' meaning 'evenness' or 'fairness.' In Roman law, it was a system used to correct or supplement the written law when it was too rigid to be fair in a specific case.

Word relationships

fairness: Fairness is a general term; equity is a more technical term used in law and policy to describe just distribution.

inequity: Lack of fairness or justice.

Commonly confused with

equality: Equality is sameness; equity is fairness based on individual needs.

Word family

equitable (adjective): Fair and impartial.

Collocations

health equity
social equity
equity of access

Example sentences

"Global health equity requires that developing nations have the same access to life-saving vaccines as wealthy ones." Vaccine distribution.
"Health equity is the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health." Public health definition. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC))

Memory hook

Equity is about 'Each' getting what they need to be 'Equal'. Fairness through need.

When not to use

In finance, 'equity' means the value of shares or property. Be careful of the context.

Fun facts

In the English legal system, there used to be separate 'Courts of Equity' to handle cases where the strict 'Common Law' would result in an unfair outcome.