treaty

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A formal written agreement between two or more countries.

   The two nations finally signed a peace treaty.

2. 2
   noun

   The process of discussing terms in order to reach an agreement.

   The land was sold by private treaty rather than at auction.

The noun is derived from Middle English trete, trety (“bargaining, negotiation; discussion; conference, meeting; entreaty, persuasion; agreement, contract, covenant; arrangement, settlement; agreement between two rulers, states, etc.; written work on a particular subject, treatise; subdivision of a written work, section”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman treté, traité, treaté, and Old French traité, traitié [and other forms] (modern French traité (“agreement between two rulers, states, etc.; treatise”)); traité or traitié is: * a noun use of the past participle of traiter (“to treat; to de…

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