Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Letters Patent |
Letters PatentNoun1. An official document granting a right or privilege. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Literature | Letters Patent So denominated because they are written upon open sheets of parchment, with the seal of the sovereign or party by whom they were issued pendent at the bottom. Close letters are folded up and sealed on the outside. (Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Letters patent are a type of legal document which is an open letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation. The opposite of letters patent is letters close which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read the contents of the letter. Letters patent often start with a salutation such as: "To all to who these presents shall come Greeting" or To all to whom these Presents shall come or whom the same may in anyway concern, GREETING:". Letters patent can be used for the granting of coats of arms, for the creation of corporations, by a monarch to create an office. The term "patent" is also used to refer to a document that grants a patent for scientific invention.
In the United States, the forgery of letters patent granted by the President of the United States is a crime subject to fine and/or imprisonment up to ten years (18 US 497).
See also Patent, patent nonsense, patently unreasonable
External links
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Letters patent."
Synonym: Letters PatentSynonym: patent (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Permission | Permit, warrant, brevet, precept, sanction, authority, firman; hukm; pass, passport; furlough, license, carte blanche, ticket of leave; grant, charter; patent, letters patent. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Letters Patent |
| English words defined with "letters patent": Letters close or clause, Letters missive ♦ Non obstante. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "letters patent": Drapier's Letters ♦ Letters Overt ♦ Poets Laureate ♦ Wood's Halfpence. (references) |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | If anyone holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which the deceased owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and enroll the chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law worthy men, provided always that nothing whatever be thence removed until the debt which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be left to the executors to fulfill the will of the deceased; and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Gambia, The | In 1588, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, Antonio, Prior of Crato, sold exclusive trade rights on The Gambia River to English merchants; this grant was confirmed by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I. In 1618, King James I granted a charter to a British company for trade with The Gambia and the Gold Coast (now Ghana). (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Language | Translations for "letters patent"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Dutch | open brief (patent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Finnish | patenttikirja. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | lettre patente, patente, f.. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | patenturkunde, patent (clever, commission, handy, ingenious, neat, nifty, Pat., patent, permit, warrant), offener Brief (patent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | szabadalomlevél (charter), kiváltságlevél (charter, patent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | etterslay atentpay carta patente (patent), carta abierta (open letter, patent), .f. (cue, mother tape, patent). (various references) patent (charter, patent), berat (patent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-e-e-l-n-p-r-s-t-t-t-t" | |
-2 letters: terneplates. | |
-3 letters: penetrates, terneplate. | |
-4 letters: lateeners, patentees, penetrate, saltpeter. | |
-5 letters: alertest, attester, entreats, eternals, lateener, nettlers, palettes, partlets, patentee, patterns, peartest, petrales, planters, platters, pleaters, prattles, prelates, pretaste, preteens, pretense, ratteens, repanels, replants, replates, resettle, selenate, septette, serenate, slattern, splatter, sprattle, tartlets, tattlers, teaseler, telerans, terpenes, transept, trapnest. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4C 65 74 74 65 72 73 50 61 74 65 6E 74 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001100 01100101 01110100 01110100 01100101 01110010 01110011 00100000 01010000 01100001 01110100 01100101 01101110 01110100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)L e t t e r s   P a t e n t |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004C 0065 0074 0074 0065 0072 0073 0050 0061 0074 0065 006E 0074 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)467186867184852506786718086 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Quotations: Historic | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Translations: Modern 7. Anagrams 8. Orthography | 9. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
