muniment

American  

[myoo-nuh-muhnt] / ˈmyu nə mənt /

noun

1. Law. muniments, a document, as a title deed or a charter, by which rights or privileges are defended or maintained.

2. Archaic. a defense or protection.

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muniment British  

/ ˈmjuːnɪmənt /

noun

1. rare a means of defence

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Etymology

Origin of muniment

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin mūnīmentum document (e.g., title, deed) for use in defense against a claimant, Latin: defense, protection, originally, fortification, equivalent to mūnī ( re ) to fortify + -mentum -ment

Example Sentences

In yonder muniment room above the porch lay concealed for centuries the works of a man, as wonderful in their way as yonder pinnacles and buttresses.

From Bristol Bells A Story of the Eighteenth Century by Marshall, Emma

In the light of Sprot’s real confessions, hitherto lying in the Haddington muniment room, we know the Indictment to be a false and garbled document. 

From James VI and the Gowrie Mystery by Lang, Andrew

There was no time to reach the window, for Ziegler passed the branch corridor without as much as looking at it, and was coming straight on to the muniment room.

From The Duke Decides by Hill, Headon

The actual circumstances have remained unknown and are only to be found in the official, but suppressed, reports of Sprot’s private examinations, now in the muniment room of the Earl of Haddington. 

From James VI and the Gowrie Mystery by Lang, Andrew

It stands in a small room over the south end of the west porch, which may once have been a muniment room.

From The Care of Books by Clark, John Willis