eˈgality Obs.
[ME. egalite, a. F. égalité: see egall a. and -ity.]
= equality (in 14th c. with sense ‘equanimity’).
(Re-formed as a nonce-wd. by Tennyson, to convey the modern associations connected with the Fr. word.)
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. iv. 42 Al fortune is blisful to a man by þe agreablete or by þe egalite of hym þat suffreþ it. c 1386 ― Pars. T. ¶875 She is as thise martirs in egalitee. 1628 Coke On Litt. 170 a, A rent may be granted for egality of partition. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 265 That cursed France with her egalities! |