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• covenant
  covenant

  noun

  an agreement or promise, usually formal, between two or more people or groups to do or not do something specified.
• Covenant
  Covenant

  noun

  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 )

Trivia Time

Covenant entered English through which language?

Test Your Knowledge

covenant

American  

[kuhv-uh-nuhnt] / ˈkʌv ə nənt /

noun

• covenants
  plural

1. an agreement or promise, usually formal, between two or more people or groups to do or not do something specified.

   Synonyms:

   convention, pact, treaty

2. Law. a secondary clause in a legal contract.

3. Ecclesiastical. a solemn agreement between the members of a Christian church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.

4. History/Historical. Covenant,

   1. National Covenant.

   2. Solemn League and Covenant.

5. Bible.

   1. 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.

   2. 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.

6. Law.

   1. a formal agreement of legal validity, especially one under seal.

   2. an early English form of lawsuit involving sealed contracts.

7. Covenant of the League of Nations.

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verb (used with object)

• covenants,
  present (3rd person singular)
• covenanted,
  past participle,  past
• covenanting
  present participle

1. to agree or promise, as in a contract or covenant; pledge (usually followed byto ).

   In our marriage vows, we covenanted to take care of each other in all circumstances.

2. to stipulate or specify in a contract.

   The covenanted price has been paid.

verb (used without object)

• covenants,
  present (3rd person singular)
• covenanted,
  past participle,  past
• covenanting
  present participle

1. 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.

covenant ¹ British  

/ ˈkʌvənənt /

noun

1. a binding agreement; contract

2. law

   1. an agreement in writing under seal, as to pay a stated annual sum to a charity

   2. a particular clause in such an agreement, esp in a lease

3. (in early English law) an action in which damages were sought for breach of a sealed agreement

4. Bible God's promise to the Israelites and their commitment to worship him alone

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verb

1. to agree to a covenant (concerning)

Covenant ² British  

/ ˈkʌvənənt /

noun

1. 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 )

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covenant Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• covenantal
  adjective
• covenantally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• covenants
  plural

Participles

• covenanting
  present
• covenanted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• covenant
  simple
• covenants
  simple
• have covenanted
  perfect
• has covenanted
  perfect
• am covenanting
  progressive
• are covenanting
  progressive
• is covenanting
  progressive
• have been covenanting
  perfect progressive
• has been covenanting
  perfect progressive

Past

• covenanted
  simple
• had covenanted
  perfect
• was covenanting
  progressive
• were covenanting
  progressive
• had been covenanting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will covenant
  simple
• will have covenanted
  perfect
• will be covenanting
  progressive
• will have been covenanting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of covenant

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, noun use of convenant, covenant “agreeing, fitting,” present participle of convenir, covenir “to agree, meet, suit,” from Latin convenīre “to be suitable, come together”; see convene

Explanation

A covenant is an agreement between two people, or companies, or even countries. It is formal, solemn, sometimes even sacred. There are some places where you'll hear covenant get used. It's a little old fashioned and formal, but marriage is often referred to as a covenant. The most famous covenant appears in the Bible — God tells a shepherd named Abraham to follow God's instructions in exchange for making Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

covenant Covenant covenants covenanted covenanting

One of Douglass’s early mentors was William Lloyd Garrison, who regarded the Constitution as “a covenant with death” and “an agreement with Hell.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Now, he’s suing USC for promissory estoppel, fraud, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and negligent misrepresentation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

“When physicians prioritize access to power over ethical judgment, they often break the foundational covenant of medicine,” she wrote.

From Salon ● May 19, 2026

Cooper said they are being especially selective about individual credits, choice of manager and covenant protection, but attracted by much higher yields potentially on offer.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026

Similarly, the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the first groups from England to settle what became the United States, believed they had a covenant with God to take the land.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Covenant, a Washington, D.C.-based defense technology startup building long-range precision strike weapons, emerged from stealth with $250 million in funding across three rounds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

They were midway through Sunday service in the south-western city of Jiangyou, when armed police officers stormed the room they were in, Early Rain Covenant said in a statement on Monday.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Chengdu's Early Rain Covenant Church said this week on its Telegram channel that nine of its members, including senior leaders, had been detained in a "concerted operation", with two others unaccounted for.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is one such treaty to which the United States is a party.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2025

It crops up in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant books.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

The nonprofit is keeping up with its mortgage payments, but it is in violation of certain loan covenants on multiple properties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

"It was probably the covenants that were the important thing," Ian reflected, "because it was something that we were agreeing between us to do, which just binds us that little bit closer together."

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025

Such projects require that tenants play a meaningful role in running their properties, encourage tenant ownership and include covenants that keep buildings permanently affordable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

With the Covenant Homeownership Program set to launch this summer, potentially hundreds of families could realize the dream denied them, their parents or grandparents because of state-supported restrictive covenants.

From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024

“I have made covenants that will place me in a position of unfathomable power. After biding my time for long years, I feel my hour of triumph at hand. The evening star is rising.”

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

Falcicchio said units covenanted through the program must remain affordable for at least 15 years at or below 80 percent of the area median family income, with the incentive determined by affordability, among other factors.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 16, 2021

Wright and King addressed covenanted congregations with an indomitable faith.

From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2019

They did not abandon the ideals of a covenanted people, but focused more on preserving their own colony than reforming all Christendom.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

It held that the sovereign nation does not start with central government but with the local covenanted community – the foedus – which form networks to constitute the nation.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 8, 2016

Which is very near parallel to the case of the covenanted people of Scotland, their appearing in defensive exploits against their covenant-breaking rulers these many years bygone.

From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Alexander Shields

Since Charles II. had come to play the sorry part of a covenanting king in 1650 no sovereign of the country had set foot on Scottish soil.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various

A very lawful, laudable and necessary transaction, founded upon moral equity, and upon the fundamental constitutions of that government, and suitable to the constant practice of their predecessors, in their covenanting with Saul and David.

From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Alexander Shields

Mind, this covenanting with God is not a case of bargaining.

From Standards of Life and Service by Thomas Henry Howard

As well might we find fault with Bruce and Wallace as with our covenanting patriots.

From Hunted and Harried by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

Hence it was a custom upon the making up of covenants, for the parties covenanting, soberly to feast together.

From The Covenants And The Covenanters Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation by James Kerr

Related Words

• compact
• convention
• stipulation