charterparty means A contract between a shipowner and a merchant, under which a ship is hired for the conveyance of goods, etc. It carries an Arena rating of 1341, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, charterparty ranks #454 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,025 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,226 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,715 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
Why “charterparty” is a great word
CHARTERPARTY — [Noun] A contract between a shipowner and a merchant for the hire of a ship and its crew for the carriage of goods. From Anglo-Norman French charte partie, literally 'divided charter' (from charte 'charter, document' and partie, feminine past participle of partir 'to divide'), referring to the medieval practice of writing the agreement in duplicate on a single sheet and then dividing it, with each party retaining one half. Unlike a "bill of lading" (which is a receipt and title document for specific cargo) or a general "charter" (which can apply to a bus or a corporate founding document), a charterparty is the vessel's own sovereign compact. It is the crisp parting of a single vellum page to create two matching deeds; the dense legalese that conjures a crew's purpose from port to port; the jagged parchment edge that, when matched, proves a bond more tangible than any handshake. Every voyage begins with the silent meeting of two ragged pieces of paper.
Etymology
From French charte-partie, literally divided charter, as the practice involved dividing it in two and giving one half to each person.
noun
- A contract between a shipowner and a merchant, under which a ship is hired for the conveyance of goods, etc.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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