équitable

Forms

équitable (plural équitables)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French équité + -able.^[2][3][4][1] Équité is from Latin aequitās (“equality, fairness”), from aequus (“equal”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1512, in a text cited in Pierre Fabri's Rhétorique, of a person who has a sense of equity.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Said first of people, it was applied from 1580 (Montaigne) to acts and attitudes that conform to equity, as in partage équitable and jugement équitable.^[5][6] It is less literary than the noun équité.^[5] In probability theory, a jeu équitable is a fair game.^[5]

In the 1980s the phrase commerce équitable “fair trade” gave it a new field: trade between consumers in industrial countries and producers in the South that respects human rights and the environment.^[5][7] A pun on équitable and éthique produced the blend éthiquable, used mainly in commerce.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1512 – First recorded.^[2][3]
• 1517 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word.^[4]
• Early 16th century – The adverb équitablement.^[2][5]
• 1580 – Montaigne applies it to things conforming to equity.^[5][6]
• 1951 – The derivative équitabilité in game theory.^[5]
• 1980s – Commerce équitable “fair trade”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a person: fair, impartial, acting with equity: un arbitre équitable.^[7][8][2]
2. Of a thing: in keeping with equity, equitable: une répartition équitable des tâches.^[7][8][2]
3. Of goods or trade: produced under fair trade rules, as in commerce équitable.^[7][8][5]
4. (mathematics) Of a game: giving each player the same expectation of gain.^[5]

Word family

• équitablement
• inéquitable
• équitabilité

Related words

• équité
• Latin aequitās

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)