Magna Charta

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmæɡnə ˈkɑːtə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmæɡnə ˈkɑːɹtə/,
• Hyphenation: Mag‧na Char‧ta

Proper noun

Magna Charta (countable and uncountable, plural Magna Chartas or Magnae Chartae)

1. (law, historical) Alternative spelling of Magna Carta
   • , London: Printed by the Assignees of Richard and Edward Atkins, Esquires, for Thomas Simmons, , →OCLC, preface, pages ii–iii:

     My Lord Coke ſayes, It had not its name of GREAT CHARTER, from the Greatneſs of it in Quantity; for there were ſeveral Voluminous Charters, longer than this: But it was ſo called, in reſpect of the Great Importance, and Weightyneſs of the Matter; as Charta de Foresta, is called, Magna Charta de Foresta, for the ſame Cauſe; and both of them are called, Magnæ Chartæ Libertatum Angliæ; i.e. The Great Charters of the Liberties of England; and upon great Reaſon too, Quia liberos faciunt, becauſe they make us Free.]

   • 1762, Danby Pickering, The Statutes at Large, from Magna Charta to the End of the Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761. , volume I (from Magna Charta to the 14th Year of K. Edward III. inclusive), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Printed by Joseph Bentham, printer to the University; for Charles Bathurst, , →OCLC, page 1:

     MAGNA CHARTA. The GREAT CHARTER, Made in the Ninth Year of King Henry the Third, and Confirmed by King Edward the Firſt in the Five and twentieth Year of his Reign.

   • 1974, Thomas S[tephen] Szasz, chapter 11, in The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 192:

     In witch-trials the conflict was officially defined as between the accused and God, or between the accused and the Catholic (later Protestant) church, as God's earthly representative. There was no attempt to make this an even match. The distribution of power between accuser and accused mirrored the relations between king and serf—one had all the power and the other none of it. Once again, we encounter the theme of domination and submission. Significantly, only in England—where, beginning in the thirteenth century with the granting of the Magna Charta, there gradually developed an appreciation of the rights and dignities of those less powerful than the king—was the fury of witch hunting mitigated by legal safe-guards and social sensibilities.

Usage notes

The spelling Magna Charta was popularized in the 18th century but never became more common despite its adoption by some reputable writers, possibly because it led to the word Charta being mispronounced with a “ch” sound.

References