Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An existing contract, such as the marriage contract, that incapacitates the maker from entering into any additional contract of the same kind.
- adjective Of or relating to occurrences or states prior to a contract.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A previous contract or engagement; especially, a previous betrothal or contract of marriage.
- To contract beforehand; bind or make over by a previous contract; particularly, to betroth before something else.
- To form a previous contract; come to a previous arrangement or agreement.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To make a previous contract or agreement.
- noun (Law) A contract preceding another.
- transitive verb To contract, engage, or stipulate previously.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun law A
contract preceding another, especially a contract ofmarriage which, according to the ancient law, rendered void a subsequent marriage solemnized in violation of it. - verb To
contract prior to another process
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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However, the Standard states that if such "precontract" costs are re - liably measurable and it is probable that the contract will be secured, then such costs are included as part of the overall contract cost.
Recently Uploaded Slideshows sivatv 2009
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Perhaps he also knew, or had good reason to believe, that the Eleanor Butler precontract story was not the case.
Chronology of the Kings of Gwynedd in the seventh century Carla 2009
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On 9 July the convocation pronounced the marriage invalid, on the grounds of a possible precontract and on a lack of inward consent for the bridegroom.
Ill Met By Moonlight Lackey, Mercedes 2005
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On the 12. daie of Maie, the ladie Berengaria daughter to the king of Nauarre was maried according to a precontract vnto king
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (6 of 12) Richard the First Raphael Holinshed
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The grounds of the sentence are not stated, but there may have been two -- the alleged precontract with the Earl of Northumberland, which the Earl denied on oath and on the sacrament, and the previous affinity between Anne and Henry arising from the King's relations with
Henry VIII. 1908
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She alleged a precontract on the part of her husband, Angus, which was never proved.
Henry VIII. 1908
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Richard claimed the crown on the ground that a precontract rendered his brother's marriage invalid, and Henry VII. tacitly allowed the same doubt to continue.
The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) James Anthony Froude 1856
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South Africa's Bongani Kumalo having already penned a precontract agreement.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
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They held that their country was under a precontract to the Most High, and could never, while the world lasted, enter into any engagement inconsistent with that precontract.
The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay 1829
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What convinces us of this is, that the first impulse of the king and his advisers, upon discovering through a secret communication made by Anne the existence of a precontract, and the consequent vitiation of her marriage with the king, had been, to charge upon Anne a new and scandalous offence.
The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey—Vol. 1 With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg Thomas De Quincey 1822
minerva commented on the word precontract
An existing contract that obviates the making of another contract of the same kind: a precontract of marriage. --The Free Dictionary.
December 17, 2007
minerva commented on the word precontract
I verily think, that I have had three or four precontracts in my time, but the good girls have not claimed upon them of a long time...
Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
December 17, 2007