Definition of INDENTURE

indenture

Plural: indentures

Noun

  • a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
  • formal agreement between the issuer of bonds and the bondholders as to terms of the debt
  • a contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified term
  • the space left between the margin and the start of an indented line
  • A contract which binds a person to work for another, under specified conditions, for a specified time (often as an apprentice).
  • A contract relating to lending (typically for issuing a bond), a real estate transaction, or a bankruptcy that imposes additional conditions on one or both parties.
  • A document, written as duplicates separated by indentations, specifying either of the above contracts.
  • An indentation; a recess.

Verb

  • bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant
    • "an indentured servant"
  • To bind a person under such a contract.
  • To indent; to make hollows, notches, or wrinkles in; to furrow.

Examples

  • Though age may creep on, and indenture the brow.

Origin / Etymology

From Anglo-Norman endenture, from Old French endenteure, from endenter (“to dent”). The name of the contract derives from the irregular dent-shaped cut (indentation) used to prove the authenticity of the two parts, similar to a chirograph.

Scrabble Score: 10

indenture: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
indenture: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
indenture: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

indenture: valid Words With Friends Word