covenant
an agreement or promise, usually formal, between two or more people or groups to do or not do something specified.
Law. a secondary clause in a legal contract.
Ecclesiastical. a solemn agreement between the members of a Christian church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.
Covenant, History/Historical.
Bible.
any of the promises made by God at different times, such as those made to Noah, Abraham, or David and their descendants, or the new covenant inaugurated by Christ.
the agreement between God and the ancient Israelites, in which God promised to bless and protect them if they faithfully kept the law God gave them.
Law.
a formal agreement of legal validity, especially one under seal.
an early English form of lawsuit involving sealed contracts.
to agree or promise, as in a contract or covenant; pledge (usually followed by to): In our marriage vows, we covenanted to take care of each other in all circumstances.
to stipulate or specify in a contract: The covenanted price has been paid.
to enter into an agreement or covenant: When we take the pledge, we do not covenant with an institution or with an ideal, but with each other.
Origin of covenant
1Other words for covenant
Other words from covenant
- cov·e·nan·tal [kuhv-uh-nan-tl], /ˌkʌv əˈnæn tl/, adjective
Words Nearby covenant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use covenant in a sentence
Our hosts were joined by Alain Stephens of The Trace, who gave a great lesson on ghost guns, and Cristina Kim of KPBS, who has reported on racially restrictive housing covenants that remain in public records.
Morning Report: The Street Vending Predicament | Voice of San Diego | November 29, 2021 | Voice of San DiegoIf you look back at the deeds for Levittown and other places, you’ll find that there are covenants in them requiring the owner of a new Levittown home to mow their lawn, their yard once a week.
How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns? (Ep. 289 Rebroadcast) | Stephen J. Dubner | July 1, 2021 | FreakonomicsToptal says three additional former employees in non-executive roles breached express covenants not to compete in their agreements with Toptal.
Freelancer marketplace Toptal sues Andela and ex-employees, alleging theft of trade secrets | Tage Kene-Okafor | June 11, 2021 | TechCrunchThe SBA also considered whether it should revive an old pilot program used to fund underserved businesses via nonprofit intermediaries, or impose covenants that would bar distribution of profits until the loan had been repaid.
The Government Is Here to Help Small Businesses — Unless They’re Cooperatives | by Lydia DePillis | June 7, 2021 | ProPublicaRacial covenants effectively maintained residential segregation without the use of explicit racial zoning.
Fed-up doctors want that too—and many have begun to reclaim the covenant between doctor and patient.
The Health-Care System Is So Broken, It’s Time for Doctors to Strike | Daniela Drake | April 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“The covenant—which should have been nominated,” he says with a laugh.
‘Lone Survivor’ Taylor Kitsch’s Journey From Homelessness to Hollywood Stardom | Marlow Stern | December 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe sacred covenant of travel dictates: always chase the new.
I Can’t Shake Hawaii: An Ode to Returning to Places You’ve Been Before | Debra A. Klein | October 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut MLB has a duty at least to try to live up to its contract with the players and its covenant with the public.
Major League Baseball Is Right to Punish the Biogenesis Cheats | Michael Brendan Dougherty | June 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIt has the right to regard the threat that Hamas poses as an annihilating one, given the emphatic language of its covenant.
Is Israel Immoral to Retaliate Against Gaza? | Thane Rosenbaum | November 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe scene is the covenant made between the two first persons of the Trinity on Mount Moriah.
The solemn league and covenant burned by the common hangman at London, and afterwards throughout the country.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellThe term covenant designating their relation to him as a people is not figuratively applied to it.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamBesides having parties,—one essential of a covenant in its proper acceptation, this relation with God has conditions.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamCovenanting in civil life is the exercise of entering into a covenant engagement, or of renewing it.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John Cunningham
British Dictionary definitions for covenant (1 of 2)
/ (ˈkʌvənənt) /
a binding agreement; contract
law
an agreement in writing under seal, as to pay a stated annual sum to a charity
a particular clause in such an agreement, esp in a lease
(in early English law) an action in which damages were sought for breach of a sealed agreement
Bible God's promise to the Israelites and their commitment to worship him alone
to agree to a covenant (concerning)
Origin of covenant
1Derived forms of covenant
- covenantal (ˌkʌvəˈnæntəl), adjective
- covenantally, adverb
British Dictionary definitions for Covenant (2 of 2)
/ (ˈkʌvənənt) /
Scot history any of the bonds entered into by Scottish Presbyterians to defend their religion, esp one in 1638 (National Covenant) and one of 1643 (Solemn League and Covenant)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for covenant
Literally, a contract. In the Bible (see also Bible), an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people and, usually, requires certain conduct from them. In the Old Testament, God made agreements with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. To Noah, he promised that he would never again destroy the Earth with a flood. He promised Abraham that he would become the ancestor of a great nation, provided Abraham went to the place God showed him and sealed the covenant by circumcision of all the males of the nation. To Moses, God said that the Israelites would reach the Promised Land but must obey the Mosaic law. In the New Testament, God promised salvation (see also salvation) to those who believe in Jesus.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse