letters patent

From letters patents (archaic), from Late Middle English lettres patentes, lettres patent (“document or documents granting a privilege, power, or right, making an appointment or decree, etc.”) [and other forms],[1] from Anglo-Norman lettres patentes (the plural of lettre patente), from Latin litterae patentēs,[2] the plural of littera patēns (so called because they were written on open sheets of parchment), from littera (“letter”) + patēns (“accessible, open”) (the present active participle of pateō (“to be accessible or open; to be clear or evident”), from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”)). The English term is analysable as letters +‎ patent (“open, unconcealed; (archaic) open to public perusal”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlɛtəz ˈpeɪtənt/, (slightly less common) /-ˈpæ-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlɛtɚz ˈpætənt/, (rare) /-ˈpeɪ-/

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• Rhymes: -eɪtənt, -ætənt
• Hyphenation: let‧ters pat‧ent

letters patent pl (plural only)

1. (law) A type of legal document in the form of an open letter issued by an authority to direct that some action be taken; to grant a monopoly, right, status, or title to a person or organization; or to record a contract.

   Antonym: letters close

   Hypernym: open letter

The term is typically used in the plural form, even for a single document.

• letter patent (rare)

letters patent

1. plural of letter patent

• letters patent on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “letters patent, n.” under “patent, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.