indent

I

indent, noun

A certificate or indented certificate issued by the government of the United States at the close of the Revolution for the principal or interest of the public debt

II

indent, verb

To cut in a serrated or wavy line. In old conveyancing, if a deed was made by more parties than one, it was usual to make as many copies of it as there were parties, and each was cut or indented (either in acute angles, like the teeth of a saw, or in a wavy line) at the top or side, to tally or correspond with the others, and the deed so made was called an "indenture".

Anciently, both parts were written on the same piece of parchment, with some word or letters written between them through which the parchment was cut, but afterwards, the word or letters being omitted, indenting came into use, the idea of which was that the genuineness of each part might be proved by its fitting into the angles cut in the other. But at length even this was discontinued, and eventually the term served only to give name to the species of deed executed by two or more parties, as opposed to a deed-poll (q.v.). 2 Bl.Comm. 295