Indenture word meaning and definition

[noun] a contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified term
[noun] formal agreement between the issuer of bonds and the bondholders as to terms of the debt
[noun] the space left between the margin and the start of an indented line
[noun] a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
[verb] bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant; "an indentured servant"

\In*den"ture\ (?; 135), n. [OE. endenture, OF. endenture, LL. indentura a deed in duplicate, with indented edges. See the Note below. See {Indent}.] 1. The act of indenting, or state of being indented. 2. (Law) A mutual agreement in writing between two or more parties, whereof each party has usually a counterpart or duplicate; sometimes in the pl., a short form for {indentures of apprenticeship}, the contract by which a youth is bound apprentice to a master. The law is the best expositor of the gospel; they are like a pair of indentures: they answer in every part. --C. Leslie. Note: Indentures were originally duplicates, laid together and intended by a notched cut or line, or else written on the same piece of parchment and separated by a notched line so that the two papers or parchments corresponded to each other. But indenting has gradually become a mere form, and is often neglected, while the writings or counterparts retain the name of indentures.
\In*den"ture\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Indentured}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Indenturing}.] 1. To indent; to make hollows, notches, or wrinkles in; to furrow. Though age may creep on, and indenture the brow. --Woty. 2. To bind by indentures or written contract; as, to indenture an apprentice.
\In*den"ture\, v. i. To run or wind in and out; to be cut or notched; to indent. --Heywood.

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