Definition:
A charter is a document bestowing certain rights on a town, city, university, land or institution; sometimes used as a loan of money.

Origin:
The word "charter" originally meant simply a paper or written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their liberties."

Legal Status:
A charter is a legally binding document incorporating an organization or institution and specifying its purpose, remit or bylaws.

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