in·den·ture
in-ˈden-chər 
1
a(1)
: a document or a section of a document that is indented
(2)
: a formal or official document usually executed in two or more copies
(3)
: a contract binding one person to work for another for a given period of time
—often used in plural
b
: a formal certificate (such as an inventory or voucher) prepared for purposes of control
c
: a document stating the terms under which a security (such as a bond) is issued
3
[indent entry 3]
: dent
indentured; indenturing
in-ˈden-ch(ə-)riŋ
: to bind (someone, such as an apprentice) by or as if by indentures
Synonyms
Examples of indenture in a Sentence
Noun
the dropped hammer left an indenture in the floor
made a small indenture to mark the spot where the plank was to be sawed
Recent Examples on the Web
Scott W. Stern, The New Republic, 26 June 2023
Instead, Said found a Russian to take over his indenture, Nicholas Vassilievich Trubetzkoy, a 22-year-old godson of Czar Nicholas, who taught him Russian.
—Martha Anne Toll, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2023
Webster imagines her ancestor’s work as a milkmaid, the trial and her ultimate indenture on a plantation in Maryland where Molly met Bana’ka, the enslaved man who became the father of her children.
—Maud Newton, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2023
Kaz has promised to buy her indenture and set her free.
—Town & Country, 18 Mar. 2023
Although most terms of indenture lasted for as long as seven years, de Sousa earned his freedom in 1638 by learning to be a fur trader and a sailor.
—Kevin Dayhoff, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 11 June 2021
Chatterton was accused of plagiarism and soon lost his indenture.
—Thomas Chatterton Williams, Harper's Magazine, 25 May 2021
Possibly the most glaring effect of Haskell’s absence lies in Inej’s indenture.
—Devon Maloney, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2021
In this new version, Kaz is personally paying off her indenture in installments, meaning that she’s technically still owned by Tante Heleen, the madam of the Menagerie.
—Devon Maloney, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2021
Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
In response to the delays and denials to requests for information, The Republic employed sophisticated computational analysis to reveal a system that indentures prisoners in order to increase profits for private industry, including friends and financial donors to former Arizona Gov. Dough Ducey.
—Michael Braga, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2023
Many inns and taverns — including Union Mills — relied on African Americans who were enslaved or indentured to prepare meals and maintain the household.
—Samuel M. Riley, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2023
On their land, the colonists built plantations, fortified them, and brought in enslaved Africans and indentured Europeans to produce tobacco for the emerging world market and to defend the territory militarily.
—Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, The New Republic, 3 Apr. 2020
He's indentured to a bunch of redneck fur trappers, scouring the ground for anything edible.
—Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 11 Mar. 2020
Oil could change Guyana as radically as did sugar, which brought African slaves in the 18th century and indentured labourers from India in the 19th.
—The Economist, 27 Feb. 2020
The clause should be read, Sumner held, as referring to apprentices, convicts, and indentured servants.
—Timothy Sandefur, National Review, 12 Sep. 2019
During the next two centuries, New England Indians also suffered indentured servitude, convict labor, and debt peonage, which often resulted in the enslavement of the debtor’s children.
—Philip Deloria, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2019
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Noun
In the mid–seventeenth century, fearful that the growing class of temporary and former servants might displace them, white property owners passed laws that phased out indentures for white people and established a system of chattel slavery (permanent and heritable) for Black people.
—Scott W. Stern, The New Republic, 26 June 2023
Instead, Said found a Russian to take over his indenture, Nicholas Vassilievich Trubetzkoy, a 22-year-old godson of Czar Nicholas, who taught him Russian.
—Martha Anne Toll, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2023
Webster imagines her ancestor’s work as a milkmaid, the trial and her ultimate indenture on a plantation in Maryland where Molly met Bana’ka, the enslaved man who became the father of her children.
—Maud Newton, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2023
Kaz has promised to buy her indenture and set her free.
—Town & Country, 18 Mar. 2023
Although most terms of indenture lasted for as long as seven years, de Sousa earned his freedom in 1638 by learning to be a fur trader and a sailor.
—Kevin Dayhoff, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 11 June 2021
Chatterton was accused of plagiarism and soon lost his indenture.
—Thomas Chatterton Williams, Harper's Magazine, 25 May 2021
Possibly the most glaring effect of Haskell’s absence lies in Inej’s indenture.
—Devon Maloney, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2021
In this new version, Kaz is personally paying off her indenture in installments, meaning that she’s technically still owned by Tante Heleen, the madam of the Menagerie.
—Devon Maloney, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2021
Verb
There he is indentured to a series of masters, all demanding, one brutal.
—Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
In response to the delays and denials to requests for information, The Republic employed sophisticated computational analysis to reveal a system that indentures prisoners in order to increase profits for private industry, including friends and financial donors to former Arizona Gov. Dough Ducey.
—Michael Braga, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2023
Many inns and taverns — including Union Mills — relied on African Americans who were enslaved or indentured to prepare meals and maintain the household.
—Samuel M. Riley, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2023
On their land, the colonists built plantations, fortified them, and brought in enslaved Africans and indentured Europeans to produce tobacco for the emerging world market and to defend the territory militarily.
—Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, The New Republic, 3 Apr. 2020
He's indentured to a bunch of redneck fur trappers, scouring the ground for anything edible.
—Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 11 Mar. 2020
Oil could change Guyana as radically as did sugar, which brought African slaves in the 18th century and indentured labourers from India in the 19th.
—The Economist, 27 Feb. 2020
The clause should be read, Sumner held, as referring to apprentices, convicts, and indentured servants.
—Timothy Sandefur, National Review, 12 Sep. 2019
During the next two centuries, New England Indians also suffered indentured servitude, convict labor, and debt peonage, which often resulted in the enslavement of the debtor’s children.
—Philip Deloria, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2019
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'indenture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English endenture, from Anglo-French, from endenter
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)
Verb
1676, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of indenture was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near indenture
Cite this Entry
“Indenture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indenture. Accessed 21 Sep. 2023.
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Kids Definition
indenture
1 of 2 noun
in·den·ture
in-ˈden-chər
1
: a written agreement : contract
2
: a contract by which one person is made to work for another for a stated period
—often used in plural
indenture
2 of 2 verb
indentured; indenturing
: to bind by indentures
indenture an apprentice
Legal Definition
indenture
noun
in·den·ture
in-ˈden-chər
1
: a document stating the terms under which a security (as a debenture or other bond) is issued
specifically, in bankruptcy law
: a document (as a mortgage or deed of trust) under which there is outstanding security constituting a claim against a debtor, a claim secured by a lien on any of the debtor's property, or an equity security of the debtor
2
: a deed or other document to which two or more parties (as both grantor and grantee) are bound
Etymology
Noun
Old French endenture an indented document, from endenter to indent (divide a document into sections with irregular edges that can be matched for authentication), from en- thoroughly + dent tooth
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