What does egality mean?
Egality is a formal, literary noun meaning complete equality — the state of being equal in status, rights, or treatment. It entered English from Old French 'egalité', derived ultimately from the Latin 'aequalitas', built on 'aequalis' ('level, even'), the same root that gives us 'equal' and 'equality'. Although it means precisely what 'equality' means, egality has never achieved everyday currency; instead it survives as a rarer, slightly antique alternative favored by writers seeking an elevated or historical tone. It often appears in discussions of political philosophy and social ideals, where phrases like 'perfect egality' or 'social egality' evoke visions of societies without hierarchy. Readers encountering it today will most often find it in older texts or in prose that deliberately reaches for a classical flavor. Because its meaning is identical to the common word it resembles, egality is best understood as a stylistic variant of equality — one whose very rarity lends a sentence a touch of gravitas, but which would sound affected in ordinary conversation or journalism.
nounA formal or literary word meaning complete equality; the state of being equal in status, rights, or treatment.
- Complete equality; the state of being equal in rank, rights, or treatment (formal or literary).
"The revolutionaries demanded not charity but egality among all citizens."
"The club prided itself on an atmosphere of easy egality, where newcomers and veterans mixed as equals."
"For the philosophers of the Enlightenment, egality was less a policy goal than a self-evident truth."
The plural is grammatically available but seldom used, since the abstract idea of equality is usually expressed in the singular.
"Different cultures have imagined their own idealized egalities across the centuries."
'Egality' sounds like 'equality' with the 'qu' stripped out — and in fact it's simply an older, French-flavored spelling of the very same idea that English eventually decided to spell the other way.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of egality
Egality comes from the Old French 'egalité', meaning equality, which derives from the Latin 'aequalitas', formed on 'aequalis' ('even, level'), itself from 'aequus' ('fair, equal'). The word was borrowed into English in the early modern period, when French-derived forms frequently competed with Latinate ones. Over time, the spelling 'equality' became the standard English form while 'egality' persisted only as a rarer literary variant.
How egality is actually used
Egality is markedly rare and somewhat archaic; it appears mainly in literary, historical, or deliberately elevated prose. In ordinary writing, 'equality' is almost always the natural choice, and using 'egality' tends to signal stylistic self-consciousness rather than a difference in meaning.
Easily confused with egality
'Equality' is the standard modern term for the state of being equal, while 'egality' is a rare, more literary synonym carrying the same meaning.