Meanings
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1
noun
a formal contract binding a person to work for another for a fixed period, especially as an apprentice or servant
The apprentice signed an indenture requiring seven years of service.
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2
noun
a formal agreement stating the terms of a bond or other debt
The bond indenture sets limits on how much additional debt the company may issue.
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3
verb
to bind someone by contract to work for a fixed period
The orphan was indentured to a printer until the age of twenty-one.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman endenture and Old French endenteure, from endenter, 'to notch or dent.' Duplicate copies of an agreement were once written on one sheet and separated along an irregular toothed cut; matching the edges authenticated them. The contract, and later the labor relationship it created, took its name from that indentation.