A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the
granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to
exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter
retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient
admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship,
and it is within that sense that charters were historically
granted, and that sense is retained in modern usage of the term.
Also, charter can simply be a document giving royal permission
to start a colony. The word entered the English language from
the Old French chartre (ultimately from the Latin word for
"paper"), but the concept is universal and transcends language.
It has come to be synonymous with the document that lays out the
granting of rights or privileges. Charter is sometimes used as a
synonym for 'rent' or 'lease', as in the 'charter' of a bus or
boat by an organization, intended for a similar group
destination. A charter member of an organization is an original
member; that is, one who