ABSTRACT
The word ‘estoppel’ itself comes from the French estouppail and estopper which are also the source of the English word ‘stop’ – taken from the Latin stuppa which relates to tallow or flax used to plug a hole. The earliest forms of estoppel related to situations in which a defendant had told the claimant that x was the case, when it turned out in fact that y was true. The doctrine evolved so as to prevent the defendant from reneging on having the claimant believe that x was the case. In its modern form, estoppel in equity typically bites on an assurance given to the claimant in circumstances in which the claimant had already acted to her detriment in reliance on the statement made to her.
