Meaning

noun a document incorporating an institution and specifying its rights; includes the articles of incorporation and the certificate of incorporation

noun a contract to hire or lease transportation

verb hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services

originFrom Middle English charter, chartre, borrowed from Old French chartre, from Latin chartula (diminutive of charta). See chart. Doublet of chartula.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0