CHARTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does charter mean? 

• CHARTER (noun)
  The noun CHARTER has 2 senses:

1. a document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation

2. a contract to hire or lease transportation

  Familiarity information: CHARTER used as a noun is rare.

• CHARTER (verb)
  The verb CHARTER has 3 senses:

1. hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services

2. grant a charter to

3. engage for service under a term of contract

  Familiarity information: CHARTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHARTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("charter" is a kind of...):

document; papers; written document (writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature))

Meronyms (parts of "charter"):

articles of incorporation (a legal document that creates a corporation; it is filed with a state by the founders of a corporation and is governed by the laws of the state)

certificate of incorporation (state approval of the articles of incorporation of a corporation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "charter"):

bank charter (a charter authorizing the operation of a bank)

royal charter (a charter granted by the sovereign (especially in Great Britain))

Derivation:

charter (grant a charter to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A contract to hire or lease transportation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("charter" is a kind of...):

contract (a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law)

Derivation:

charter (engage for service under a term of contract)

charter (hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services)

• CHARTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they charter    ... he / she / it charters   
Past simple: chartered   
Past participle: chartered   
-ing form: chartering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

charter; hire; lease; rent

Hypernyms (to "charter" is one way to...):

contract; undertake (enter into a contractual arrangement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

charter (a contract to hire or lease transportation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grant a charter to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "charter" is one way to...):

certify; licence; license (authorize officially)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

charter (a document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Engage for service under a term of contract

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

charter; engage; hire; lease; rent; take

Context example:

Shall we take a guide in Rome?

Hypernyms (to "charter" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

charter (a contract to hire or lease transportation)

 Context examples 

I am but a poor commoner of England myself, and yet I know something of charters, liberties, franchises, usages, privileges, customs, and the like.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An officially chartered institution empowered to receive deposits, make loans, and provide checking and savings account services, all at a profit.

(Bank, NCI Thesaurus)

Bless me, child, you will have to charter an omnibus to carry them about.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

While you looked so, I should be certain that whatever charter you might grant under coercion, your first act, when released, would be to violate its conditions.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Lord John Roxton has chartered a large steam launch, the Esmeralda, which was to carry us up the river.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We were residing at the time in furnished lodgings close to a library where Sherlock Holmes was pursuing some laborious researches in early English charters—researches which led to results so striking that they may be the subject of one of my future narratives.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I'll get admitted there, and I'll stir up mutiny; and you, three-tailed bashaw as you are, sir, shall in a trice find yourself fettered amongst our hands: nor will I, for one, consent to cut your bonds till you have signed a charter, the most liberal that despot ever yet conferred.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)