lettre de cachet

American  

[le-tr^uh duh ka-she] / lɛ trə də kaˈʃɛ /

noun

French.

• lettres de cachet
  plural

1. a letter under the seal of the sovereign, especially one ordering imprisonment, frequently without trial.

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lettre de cachet British  

/ lɛtrə də kaʃɛ /

noun

1. French history a letter under the sovereign's seal, often authorizing imprisonment without trial

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lettres de cachet
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lettre de cachet

literally: letter with a seal

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lettre de cachet

When he was 16 his father secured a lettre de cachet for him, applied it two years later.*

From Time Magazine Archive

The duke and his mother, the dowager-duchess, were furious, and it was rumoured that they had obtained a lettre de cachet, in virtue of which Mlle.

From Queens of the French Stage by H. Noel Williams

Mr. Zenger was imprisoned by a warrant from the Governor, a lettre de cachet, and "for several days denied the use of pen, ink, and paper, and the liberty of speech with any person."

From The Trial of Theodore Parker For the "Misdemeanor" of a Speech in Faneuil Hall against Kidnapping, before the Circuit Court of the United States, at Boston, April 3, 1855, with the Defence by Theodore Parker

To think that any man of our free colony would use a lettre de cachet, and against a brother Canadian!

From The False Chevalier or, The Lifeguard of Marie Antoinette by W. D. (William Douw) Lighthall

We have all the clue we want, and you have with you the king's lettre de cachet.

From The King's Warrant A Story of Old and New France by Alfred H. Engelbach

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