Magna Carta
noun
Mag·na Car·ta
ˈmag-nə-ˈkär-tə 
variants
or less commonly Magna Charta
1
: a charter of liberties to which the English barons forced King John to give his assent in June 1215 at Runnymede
2
: a document constituting a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges
Examples of Magna Carta in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Regulators and legislators have been introducing aggressive reforms and negotiating them down since the Magna Carta.
—
Mary Foley, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
The pattern's name refers to the location where King John signed the Magna Carta.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 27 Feb. 2024
He’s also loaned the U.S. government his rare copies of historical documents, such as the Magna Carta, the first book printed in the U.S., the first map of the U.S. and the Emancipation Proclamation.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 31 Jan. 2024
With Magna Carta Holy Grail audiences saw production from Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Bo-1da and The-Dream, and features from Beyoncé, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Justin Timberlake this album had amazing potential, but too many of the songs failed to resonate with some of Jay-Z’s core fanbase.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 4 Dec. 2023
The United States grew from seedbeds in Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem, and especially in the English traditions of accountable government, from Magna Carta to the Glorious Revolution.
—The Editors, National Review, 16 Oct. 2023
Slowing down government The National Environmental Policy Act, passed by Congress in 1969 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970, was considered the Magna Carta of environmental protection law.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 12 Aug. 2023
Like Justice Gorsuch, scheduled to teach in Padua again that summer, Justice Kavanaugh would teach his two-week class abroad — at a university in Surrey, southwest of London, with accommodations for his family nearby in Runnymede, on the River Thames, where Magna Carta was signed.
—Jo Becker, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2023
Pacific Legal Foundation Invoking the Magna Carta Katyal tried to appeal to the conservative justices in particular by references to history dating back to 1272 and the invocation of the court's recent rulings overturning Roe v. Wade and expanding gun rights.
—CBS News, 27 Apr. 2023
Mary Foley, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
The pattern's name refers to the location where King John signed the Magna Carta.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 27 Feb. 2024
He’s also loaned the U.S. government his rare copies of historical documents, such as the Magna Carta, the first book printed in the U.S., the first map of the U.S. and the Emancipation Proclamation.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 31 Jan. 2024
With Magna Carta Holy Grail audiences saw production from Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Bo-1da and The-Dream, and features from Beyoncé, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Justin Timberlake this album had amazing potential, but too many of the songs failed to resonate with some of Jay-Z’s core fanbase.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 4 Dec. 2023
The United States grew from seedbeds in Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem, and especially in the English traditions of accountable government, from Magna Carta to the Glorious Revolution.
—The Editors, National Review, 16 Oct. 2023
Slowing down government The National Environmental Policy Act, passed by Congress in 1969 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970, was considered the Magna Carta of environmental protection law.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 12 Aug. 2023
Like Justice Gorsuch, scheduled to teach in Padua again that summer, Justice Kavanaugh would teach his two-week class abroad — at a university in Surrey, southwest of London, with accommodations for his family nearby in Runnymede, on the River Thames, where Magna Carta was signed.
—Jo Becker, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2023
Pacific Legal Foundation Invoking the Magna Carta Katyal tried to appeal to the conservative justices in particular by references to history dating back to 1272 and the invocation of the court's recent rulings overturning Roe v. Wade and expanding gun rights.
—CBS News, 27 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Magna Carta.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Magna Carta.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Magna%20Carta. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
Magna Carta
noun
Mag·na Car·ta
variants
or Magna Charta
: a charter of liberties signed under duress by King John of England in 1215 that influenced the development of many important modern legal and constitutional principles (as due process)
Etymology
Medieval Latin, literally, great charter
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