charter

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For more information on charter, visit Britannica.com.

verb

To engage the temporary use of (something) for a fee: hire, lease, rent. See get/lose, transactions.

Definition: reserve, commission
Antonyms: cancel

A grant from the government of ownership rights in land to a person, a group of people, or an organization such as a corporation.

A basic document of law of a municipal corporation granted by the state, defining its rights, liabilities, and responsibilities of self-government.

A document embodying a grant of authority from the legislature or the authority itself, such as a corporate charter.

The leasing of a mode of transportation, such as a bus, ship, or plane. A charter-party is a contract formed to lease a ship to a merchant in order to facilitate the conveyance of goods.

A written document filed with a U.S. state by the founders of a corporation detailing the major components of a company such as its objectives, its structure and its planned operations. If the charter is approved by the state government, the company becomes a legal corporation.

Also referred to as "charter" and "articles of incorporation".

Investopedia Says:
The details of a charter will vary based on specific regulations and the size of the company. However, at the most basic level, the charter will include the corporation's name, its purpose, the number of shares that are authorized to be issued and the names of the parties involved in the formation. This is generally the first document in the life of a corporation.

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• Acts, Powers, Conditions, and Procedures - charter: fundamental law or constitution granted cities by state legislature
• Laws, Procedures, and Court Proceedings - charter: state grant allowing corporation to exist
• Corporations and Business Practices - charter: legal form establishing corporation and defining its purpose
• Travel and Tourism - charter: hire or lease of ship, bus, or airplane to transport large group at reduced fare
• Fishing Practice and Techniques - charter: lease of boat by party for fishing expedition; any boat so leased

For other uses, see Charter (disambiguation).

An example of a charter (Magna Carta).

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters were historically granted, and that sense is retained in modern usage of the term. Also, charter can simply be a document giving royal permission to start a colony.

The word entered the English language from the Old French charte (ultimately from the Latin word for "paper"), but the concept is universal and transcends language. It has come to be synonymous with the document that lays out the granting of rights or privileges.

Contents 1 Colloquial usages 2 Different types of charters 2.1 Charter colony 2.2 Congressional charter 2.3 Municipal charter 2.4 Project charter 2.5 Royal charter 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Colloquial usages

The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) to an institutional charter. A charter school, for example, is one that has different rules, regulations, and statutes from a state school.

Charter is sometimes used as a synonym for 'tool' or 'lease', as in the 'charter' of a bus or boat by an organization, intended for a similar group destination.

A charter member of an organization is an original member; that is, one who became a member when the organization received its charter.

Different types of charters

Main article: Anglo-Saxon Charters

Anglo-Saxon Charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, which often correspond closely to modern parish boundaries. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the 8th century surviving charters were increasingly used to grant land to lay people.

Charter colony

Main article: Charter colony

The British Empire used three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts of the earth. These three types were royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate colonies. A charter colony by definition is a "colony…chartered to an individual, trading company, etc., by the British crown."^[1] Although charter colonies were not the most prevalent of the three types of colonies in the British Empire, they were by no means insignificant.

Congressional charter

Main article: Congressional charter

A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.

Municipal charter

Main article: Municipal charter

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. Often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter.

Project charter

Main article: Project charter

In project management, a project charter or project definition (sometimes called the terms of reference) is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project.

Royal charter

Main article: Royal Charter

In medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities (i.e., localities with recognised legal rights and privileges). The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.

At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means (such as the registration process for limited companies) are generally now used instead.

See also

• Articles of Incorporation
• Atlantic Charter
• chartered
• Charter school
• Earth Charter
• Freedom Charter
• Fueros (Spanish version)
• General incorporation law
• Magna Carta
• Medieval Bulgarian royal charters
• Papal Bull
• United Nations Charter

References

1. ^ charter colony - Definitions from Dictionary.com

External links

Look up charter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charters

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - dokument, fundats, privilegium, befragtningskontrakt
v. tr. - give privilegium, chartre

idioms:

• charter flight    charterrejse
• charter member    priviligeret medlem

Nederlands (Dutch)
handvest, statuut, patent, stadsrecht, charteren, recht/octrooi verlenen

Français (French)
n. - (gén, Pol) charte, brevet, statut, affrètement, acte constitutif, (Comm) affrètement
v. tr. - affréter, (Jur, Admin) accorder une charte à

idioms:

• charter flight    vol charter
• charter member    membre de la charte

Deutsch (German)
n. - Charta, Gründungsurkunde, Stadtrecht, Privileg, Mieten
v. - chartern, mieten

idioms:

• charter flight    Charterflug
• charter member    Stammitglied

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (νομ.) (ιδρυτικό) καταστατικό, καταστατικός χάρτης, χάρτα, (οικον.) ναύλωση (κν. τσάρτερ)
v. - ιδρύω με καταστατικό (χάρτη), ναυλώνω

idioms:

• charter flight    ναυλωμένη πτήση
• charter member    καταστατικό ή ιδρυτικό μέλος οργανισμού

Italiano (Italian)
noleggiare, istituire, patente, carta, statuto, franchigie

idioms:

• charter flight    volo charter
• charter member    socio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - contrato (m) de afretamento, carta (f) constitucional (Jur.), privilégio (m), alvará (m) (Jur.)
v. - fretar navio, avião etc., alugar veículo, licenciar, diplomar

idioms:

• charter flight    vôo (m) charter
• charter member    membro (m) fundador

Русский (Russian)
сдавать внаем по чартеру, хартия, устав

idioms:

• charter flight    чартерный авиарейс
• charter member    из основателей организации

Español (Spanish)
n. - fuero, carta de privilegio, cédula real, carta, estatutos, fueros de ciudad
v. tr. - fletar, alquilar, conceder carta a

idioms:

• charter flight    vuelo charter o fletado
• charter member    socio fundador

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kungligt brev, charter, certeparti
v. - bevilja, chartra

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
特许状, 宪章, 执照, 特许设立, 发执照给, 租, 包租, 给予...特权

idioms:

• charter flight    包机
• charter member    创始会员, 发起人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 特許狀, 憲章, 執照
v. tr. - 特許設立, 發執照給, 租, 包租, 給予...特權

idioms:

• charter flight    包機
• charter member    創始會員, 發起人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 헌장, 특허장, 대차 계약서
v. tr. - 특허를 주다, 설립하다, 비행기나 버스 등을 전세 내다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 特許状, 支部設立許可状, 特権, 貸借契約, 人権確認の宣言, 憲章, 国連憲章, 捺印証書
v. - 特許状を与える, 借り上げる, 用船契約で雇う

idioms:

• charter flight    チャーター便
• charter member    創立委員

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ميثاق, عهد, مرسوم (فعل) استأجر سفينه أو طيارة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כתב-זכויות, צ'רטר, אישור, הצהרת-יסוד, חוזה לשכירת כלי-תחבורה למטרה מיוחדת, חכירה‬
v. tr. - ‮שכר, העניק צ'רטר‬

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