unchartered

[uhn-chahr-terd]

adjective

without a charter.
without regulation; lawless.

Origin of unchartered

First recorded in 1795–1805; un-¹ + charter + -ed²

Can be confuseduncharted unchartered

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unchartered

Historical Examples of unchartered

He gropes in darkness as he comes nearer the gates of his paradise, through an unchartered wilderness.
In the Heart of a Fool
William Allen White
On the contrary, the unchartered guilds were the moat numerous and influential.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume I.(of III) 1555-66
John Lothrop Motley
I was an unchartered ship, in which no living person had an interest, drifting on the wide waste of waters.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.--April, 1851--Vol. II.
Various
In no part of the world, and at no period of time, do we find the behavior of men left to unchartered freedom.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology
Robert E. Park
Then, at the instigation of the favored ones, the politicians passed a law to suppress all unchartered banks.
The Spirit of American Government
J. Allen Smith

British Dictionary definitions for unchartered

unchartered

adjective

not authorized by charter; unregulated
unauthorized, lawless, or irregular

usage

Care should be taken not to use unchartered where uncharted is meant: uncharted (not unchartered) territory

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

Word Origin and History for unchartered

adj.

1805, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of charter.