Equality
Etymology
From Latin “aequalitas,” from “aequus,” “even, level, flat.” The image is physical levelness — a surface with no part higher than another — carried over into the social sense of no person ranked above another.
noun · /ih-KWOL-ih-tee/
The state of everyone having the same status, rights, or treatment.
What it names
Use it to name sameness of treatment or standing — identical rules, identical shares, one person one vote.
Example
Equality before the law means the same statute binds the billionaire and the pauper.
Related idea
Equality gives everyone the same thing; equity gives each what they need to reach the same outcome, which can mean treating people differently. A single flight of stairs treats all climbers equally; a ramp beside it is the equitable addition for the person in a wheelchair.
See also