letters patent

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English

WOTD – 1 September 2023

Etymology

A royal charter in the form of letters patent issued on 15 March 1827 by George IV to establish a university called King’s College in York, Upper Canada. The institution was later renamed the University of Toronto.

From letters patents (archaic), from Late Middle English lettres patentes, lettres patent (“document or documents granting a privilege, power, or right, making an appointment or decree, etc.”) , from Anglo-Norman lettres patentes (the plural of lettre patente), from Latin litterae patentēs, the plural of littera patēns (so called because they were written on open sheets of parchment), from littera (“letter”) + patēns (“accessible, open”) (the present active participle of pateō (“to be accessible or open; to be clear or evident”), from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”)). The English term is analysable as letters +‎ patent (“open, unconcealed; (archaic) open to public perusal”).

Pronunciation

Noun

letters patent pl (plural only)

  1. (law) A type of legal document in the form of an open letter issued by an authority to direct that some action be taken; to grant a monopoly, right, status, or title to a person or organization; or to record a contract.
    Antonym: letters close
    Hypernym: open letter

Usage notes

The term is typically used in the plural form, even for a single document.

Alternative forms

Translations

Noun

letters patent

  1. plural of letter patent

References

  1. ^ “lettre(s ” under “patent(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “letters patent, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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