Etymology

indenture

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Today it means: A contract which binds a person to work for another, under specified conditions, for a specified time (often as an apprentice). Full definition →

Anglo-Norman endenture ← Old French endenteure
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromendenteure
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromendenture
  3. English todayindenture

From Anglo-Norman endenture, from Old French endenteure, from endenter (“to dent”). The name of the contract derives from the irregular dent-shaped cut (indentation) used to prove the authenticity of the two parts, similar to a chirograph.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.