Indenture

Indenture, the technical name given in England to a deed under seal, entered into between two or more parties with mutual covenants. Formerly the papers or pieces of parchment on which the duplicate copies of the indenture were executed required to be actually indented—i.e. notched or toothed (Lat. dent, 'tooth'), or cut in a wavy line, so as to correspond with each other, but this is no longer necessary. The name is not used in a general sense in Scotland, except in the case of indentures of Apprenticeship (q.v.).