Definition

1. Noun:

   • A written contract for the hire of a vehicle or vessel: A formal agreement to rent a boat, airplane, bus, or similar means of transport for exclusive use.
   • A formal document granting rights or establishing an organization: A written instrument from a sovereign or state, defining the conditions, rights, and purposes of a city, corporation, university, or other institution.

2. Verb:

   • To hire or lease a vehicle, aircraft, or ship for exclusive use: To engage the services of a mode of transport under a formal contract.
   • To grant a charter to an organization: To formally establish or incorporate an institution, city, or company by issuing a charter.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The company signed a charter for a private jet.
  • The university's founding charter dates from the 15th century.

• Verb:

  • The group chartered a bus for the school trip.
  • The king chartered the new city, granting it specific liberties.

Advanced Usage

• "to charter a course": This phrase is less common but can be used metaphorically to mean to formally establish or map out a plan of action, similar to how a charter establishes an organization's course.
  • The committee was tasked with chartering a new course for the company's future.
• "under charter": Describes a vessel or vehicle that is currently hired out.
  • The yacht is under charter to a film crew this month.

Variants and Related Words

• Chartered (adj): Having been granted a formal charter or being hired under a charter contract.
  • A chartered accountant. (A professional title granted by a royal charter or similar body.)
  • A chartered flight.
• Charterer (n): A person or organization that hires a ship, aircraft, etc., under a charter.

Synonyms

• Noun (for hire contract): Lease, contract, hire agreement.
• Noun (for founding document): Constitution, covenant, grant.
• Verb (for hiring): Hire, lease, rent.
• Verb (for establishing): Incorporate, establish, found.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Charter" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its verbal uses are typically transitive.)

Related Idioms

• "Charter member": An original or founding member of an organization that was established by a charter.
  • She was a charter member of the historical society.

Noun

1. a contract to hire or lease transportation
2. a document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation

Verb

1. engage for service under a term of contract
   • We took an apartment on a quiet street
   • Let's rent a car
   • Shall we take a guide in Rome?
2. grant a charter to
3. hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services