Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A binding agreement; a compact. synonym: agreement.
- noun A condition in a contract such as a deed or lease, nonperformance or violation of which gives rise to a cause of action for breach.
- noun A contract.
- noun In the Bible, a divine promise establishing or modifying God's relationship to humanity or to a particular group.
- noun One of the agreements supported by a Covenanter.
- intransitive verb To promise by a covenant.
- intransitive verb To enter into a covenant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To enter into a formal agreement; contract; bind one's self by contract; agree formally or solemnly: as, A covenants with B to convey to him a certain estate: with for before the thing or price.
- To agree or subscribe to or promise by covenant; engage by a pledge.
- To demand as a condition or stipulation; stipulate.
- noun A mutual compact or agreement of two or more persons to do or to refrain from doing some act; a contract; a compact.
- noun In law: In general, an agreement under seal; a specialty; any promise made by deed.
- noun More particularly, a subordinate stipulation forming part of the same sealed instrument with the agreement to which it is incidental: as, a covenant of warranty of title in a deed.
- noun In Biblical usage, the free promise of God, generally, though not always expressly, accompanied by the requirement of the fulfilment of certain conditions on the part of man.
- noun Eccles., a solemn agreement between the members of a church, as that they will act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.
- noun Specifically, an indenture; an article of apprenticeship.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To agree (with); to enter into a formal agreement; to bind one's self by contract; to make a stipulation.
- transitive verb To grant or promise by covenant.
- noun A mutual agreement of two or more persons or parties, or one of the stipulations in such an agreement.
- noun (Eccl. Hist.) An agreement made by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the English Parliament in 1643, to preserve the reformed religion in Scotland, and to extirpate popery and prelacy; -- usually called the “Solemn League and Covenant.”
- noun (Theol.) The promises of God as revealed in the Scriptures, conditioned on certain terms on the part of man, as obedience, repentance, faith, etc.
- noun A solemn compact between members of a church to maintain its faith, discipline, etc.
- noun An undertaking, on sufficient consideration, in writing and under seal, to do or to refrain from some act or thing; a contract; a stipulation; also, the document or writing containing the terms of agreement.
- noun A form of action for the violation of a promise or contract under seal.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun law An
agreement to do or not do aparticular thing. - noun law A
promise ,incidental to adeed orcontract , eitherexpress orimplied . - noun A
pact orbinding agreement between two or more parties. - noun An
incidental clause in an agreement. - verb to enter into, or promise something by, a covenant
- verb law To enter a
formal agreement . - verb law To
bind oneself incontract . - verb law To make a
stipulation .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb enter into a covenant or formal agreement
- noun a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
- noun (Bible) an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return
- verb enter into a covenant
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Christians believe that it records a new covenant, or new testament, that fulfills and completes Gods old covenant with the Hebrews, described in the Old Testament.
New Testament 2002
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Hence, besides, it is doing no service to the interpretation of the Scriptures, to attempt to shew that in the passage of the Epistle to the Hebrews, [455] where the covenant is represented as a testament, either that the term διαθηχη there, must have only the meaning _testament_, or that it must be rendered _covenant_ exclusively throughout.
The Ordinance of Covenanting John Cunningham 1856
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Accept the Sabbatarian definition of the term covenant, and it legitimately follows that none were ever in that covenant save those who held converse with Jehovah, through Moses, saying, “All these things will we observe and do.”
The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, May, 1880 Various
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The blessing of God, as ours in covenant, is that which sweetens all our creature-comforts to us, and makes them comforts indeed; then we receive the increase of the earth as a mercy indeed when with it God, even our own God, gives us his blessing.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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The CDG understands the very real concerns that the term covenant has in the context of the histories of Scotland, Aotearoa New Zealand and other parts of the Communion.
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MAHER: That's what I call covenant marriage, super married.
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In selling land it doesn't make any difference whether it's a sale to a neighbor, or to a friend or a stranger, you should protect any trees that you have growing upon that land by what we term a covenant running with the land, and that means if a deed is made it will provide that certain trees shall not be cut within a certain period of time.
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But, after man was fallen, God was pleased to strike a new covenant, which is usually called a covenant of grace, or of reconciliation.
The Covenants And The Covenanters Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation Various 1876
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The confirmation of the covenant is assigned to Him also elsewhere.
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Is not that what we call a covenant -- a bargain between two parties, which, if either party breaks it, becomes null and void, and binds neither?
Sermons on National Subjects Charles Kingsley 1847
Kristianto2010 commented on the word covenant
And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ Acts 3:25
December 2, 2010