treaty Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
    pact; accord.

WordNet

Trea"ty noun
Etymology
OE. tretee, F. traité, LL. tractatus; cf. L. tractatus a handling, treatment, consultation, tractate. See Treat, and cf. Tractate.
Wordforms
plural Treaties
Definitions
  1. The act of treating for the adjustment of differences, as for forming an agreement; negotiation. "By sly and wise treaty." Chaucer.
    He cast by treaty and by trains Her to persuade. Spenser.
  2. An agreement so made; specifically, an agreement, league, or contract between two or more nations or sovereigns, formally signed by commissioners properly authorized, and solemnly ratified by the several sovereigns, or the supreme power of each state; an agreement between two or more independent states; as, a treaty of peace; a treaty of alliance.
  3. A proposal tending to an agreement. Obs. Shak.
  4. A treatise; a tract. Obs. Sir T. Browne.

Webster 1913