noun plural
Etymology: Middle English, part translation of Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French lettres patentes, translation of Medieval Latin litterae patentes
: written communications usually signed and sealed from a government or sovereign of a nation conferring upon a designated person a grant (as a right, title, status, property, authority, privilege, monopoly, franchise, immunity, or exemption) that could not otherwise be enjoyed in a form readily open for inspection by all seeking confirmation of the grant conferred — distinguished from letters close