noun
- a deed or agreement executed in two or more copies with edges correspondingly indented as a means of identification.
- any deed, written contract, or sealed agreement.
- a contract by which a person, as an apprentice, is bound to service.
- any official or formal list, certificate, etc., authenticated for use as a voucher or the like.
- the formal agreement between a group of bondholders and the debtor as to the terms of the debt.
- indentation.
verb (used with object), in·den·tured, in·den·tur·ing.
- to bind by indenture, as an apprentice.
- Archaic. to make a depression in; wrinkle; furrow.
noun
- any deed, contract, or sealed agreement between two or more parties
- (formerly) a deed drawn up in duplicate, each part having correspondingly indented edges for identification and security
- (often plural) a contract between an apprentice and his master
- a formal or official list or certificate authenticated for use as a voucher, etc
- a less common word for indentation
verb
- (intr) to enter into an agreement by indenture
- (tr) to bind (an apprentice, servant, etc) by indenture
- (tr) obsolete to indent or wrinkle
“contract for services,” late 14c., from Anglo-French endenture, Old French endenteure “indentation,” from endenter (see indent). Such contracts (especially between master craftsmen and apprentices) were written in full identical versions on a sheet of parchment, which was then cut apart in a zigzag, or “notched” line. Each party took one, and the genuineness of a document of indenture could be proved by juxtaposition with its counterpart. As a verb, 1650s, from the noun.