Stocks or shares representing ownership in companies; financial securities that provide voting rights and potential dividends. Also refers to fairness or justice in general contexts.
From Latin 'aequitas' meaning 'equality' or 'fairness,' from 'aequus' (equal). The financial meaning developed from the idea that stockholders have equal rights to company ownership and profits.
The financial term 'equities' literally means 'fairness,' reflecting the principle that all shareholders should be treated equally regardless of when they bought their shares. This linguistic connection between justice and finance reveals idealistic roots in capitalist terminology.
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