INDENTURE

indenture. Indenture, n. a kind of covenant of deed

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In‐den″ture (?; 135), n. [[OE. endenture, OF. endenture, LL. indentura a deed in duplicate, with indented edges. See the Note below. See Indent.]] 1. 1. The act of indenting, or state of being indented.
2. 2. (Law) A mutual agreement in writing between two or more parties, whereof each party has usually a counterpart or duplicate; sometimes in the pl., a short form for indentures of apprenticeship, the contract by which a youth is bound apprentice to a master.
The law is the best expositor of the gospel; they are like a pair of indentures: they answer in every part. C. Leslie. ☞ Indentures were originally duplicates, laid together and indented by a notched cut or line, or else written on the same piece of parchment and separated by a notched line so that the two papers or parchments corresponded to each other. But indenting has gradually become a mere form, and is often neglected, while the writings or counterparts retain the name of indentures.