Charter

n.	1.	A written evidence in due form of things done or granted, contracts made, etc., between man and man; a deed, or conveyance.
	2.	An instrument in writing, from the sovereign power of a state or country, executed in due form, bestowing rights, franchises, or privileges. The king [John, a.d. 1215], with a facility somewhat suspicious, signed and sealed the charter which was required of him. This famous deed, commonly called the "Great Charter," either granted or secured very important liberties and privileges to every order of men in the kingdom. - Hume.
	3.	An act of a legislative body creating a municipal or other corporation and defining its powers and privileges. Also, an instrument in writing from the constituted authorities of an order or society (as the Freemasons), creating a lodge and defining its powers.
	4.	A special privilege, immunity, or exemption. My mother, Who has a charter to extol her blood, When she does praise me, grieves me. - Shak.
	5.	(Com.) The letting or hiring a vessel by special contract, or the contract or instrument whereby a vessel is hired or let; as, a ship is offered for sale or charter. See Charter party, below. Charter land (O. Eng. Law) land held by charter, or in socage; bookland. Charter member one of the original members of a society or corporation, esp. one named in a charter, or taking part in the first proceedings under it. Charter party (Com.) a mercantile lease of a vessel; a specific contract by which the owners of a vessel let the entire vessel, or some principal part of the vessel, to another person, to be used by the latter in transportation for his own account, either under their charge or his. People's Charter the document which embodied the demands made by the Chartists, so called, upon the English government in 1838.
v. t.	1.	To establish by charter. [imp. & p. p. Chartered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Chartering.]
	2.	To hire or let by charter, as a ship. See Charter party, under Charter, n.

Noun	1.	charter - a document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation
	2.	charter - a contract to hire or lease transportation
Verb	1.	charter - hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services Synonyms: hire, lease, rent
	2.	charter - grant a charter to
	3.	charter - engage for service under a term of contract; "We took an apartment on a quiet street"; "Let's rent a car"; "Shall we take a guide in Rome?" Synonyms: hire, rent, lease, engage, take

CHARTER. A grant made by the sovereign either to the whole people or to a portion of them, securing to them the enjoyment of certain rights. Of the former kind is the late charter of France, which extended to the whole country; the charters which were granted to the different American colonies by the British government were charters of the latter species. 1 Story, Const. L. Sec. 161; 1 Bl. Com. 108 Encycl. Amer. Charte Constitutionelle.
     2. A charter differs from a CONSTITUTION in this, that the former is granted by the sovereign, while the latter is established by the people themselves : both are the fundamental law of the land.
     3. This term is susceptible of another signification. During the middle ages almost every document was called carta, charta, or chartula. In this sense the term is nearly synonymous with deed. Co. Litt. 6; 1 Co. 1; Moor. Cas. 687.
     4. The act of the legislature creating a corporation, is called its charter. Vide 3 Bro. Civ. and Adm. Law, 188; Dane's Ab. h.t.

CHARTER, mar. contr. An agreement by which a vessel is hired by the owner to another; as A B chartered the ship Benjamin Franklin to C D.

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