Etymology

these presents

Today it means: This document (formerly used in official documents and decrees; now mainly confined to university diplomas). Full definition →

Latin hae presentes [litterae]
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The story

  1. Latin · calque ofhae presentes [litterae]
  2. English todaythese presents

Calque of Latin hae presentes [litterae], literally "these present [letters]" but idiomatically "this present [document]."

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.