Definition
Enant is an archaic or abbreviated form appearing in historical legal texts, most likely a corrupt, truncated, or variant rendering of "covenant" (from the French *convenant* or *enant*, meaning "agreeing" or "binding"). In the context of the Bouvier source fragment, the term appears as a classificatory label within covenant doctrine, pointing to categories of covenants — particularly principal covenants (those relating directly to the main subject matter of a contract) as distinguished from auxiliary or incidental covenants, and real covenants (those running with land).
As a standalone legal term, *enant* does not appear as a defined term of art in standard modern legal usage. Its appearance in Bouvier likely reflects one of the following:
1. A fragment of a compound term such as *tenant* or *covenantee*, truncated by typographical error or editorial abbreviation in the source text.
2. An obsolete or dialectal variant of *covenant*, derived from Anglo-Norman legal French usage in which the prefix *co-* was sometimes dropped in transcription.
3. A scanning or transcription artifact in the digitized Bouvier text, where the leading characters of a longer word were lost.
Researchers encountering *enant* in historical documents should treat it as a probable reference to covenant doctrine and cross-reference surrounding context to determine whether the operative term is *covenant*, *tenant*, *covenantee*, or a related concept.
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Common Confusion
ENANT vs. TENANT: The visual similarity between *enant* and *tenant* is significant. In historical manuscripts and early printed legal texts, the loss of the initial *t* through ink fade, marginal damage, or transcription error was common. If the surrounding text concerns land or property obligations, *tenant* is the more probable intended term. If the surrounding text concerns contractual promises or deed obligations, *covenant* (or *covenantee*) is more probable.
ENANT vs. COVENANT: In Anglo-Norman legal French, *covenant* derives from *convenant*, and abbreviated or phonetically rendered versions occasionally appear in period documents as *enant* or *nant*. Bouvier's entry fragment references covenant classifications directly, strengthening the inference that *enant* here is a shortened or corrupted form of *covenant*.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term is a research hazard, not a research destination. Its primary significance is as a signal that the source text may be damaged, incorrectly transcribed, or using archaic Anglo-Norman abbreviation practices.
**Digitization traps.** Bouvier's Law Dictionary exists in multiple editions (1839, 1843, 1848, 1853, 1867, 1883, and the posthumous 1914 Rawle revision). Optical character recognition errors are common in digitized versions of 19th-century legal dictionaries, and truncated words at page breaks, column margins, or damaged binding edges frequently produce fragments like *enant*. The source fragment provided — which cuts off mid-sentence discussing covenants of rights to convey — strongly suggests a page-break or column-break artifact.
**Historical manuscript research.** In original deed books, court rolls, and colonial-era instruments, enant or similar fragments may appear as genuine period abbreviations. English and early American conveyancing practice borrowed heavily from Norman French, and scribal abbreviation was routine. Researchers working with unedited manuscript sources should consult a paleography reference before concluding that *enant* is a discrete legal term.
**Covenant doctrine context.** The Bouvier fragment, once reconstructed, points to a substantive area: the classification of covenants as principal versus auxiliary, and the doctrine of real covenants running with land. These remain active areas of property and contract law, though the vocabulary has modernized. Researchers led to this entry by a covenant-related search should proceed directly to entries for COVENANT, REAL COVENANT, and COVENANT RUNNING WITH THE LAND.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's is the only source in the Law Mind shelf that surfaces *enant* as a term, and the entry fragment is plainly incomplete — it ends mid-sentence, referencing "covenants of rights to convey" and directing to "COVE—" (almost certainly COVENANT). This is not a defined entry for *enant* as a standalone term; it is a section heading or subclassification label within a larger covenant entry, likely *principal covenant* or a similar grouping.
No other major historical legal dictionaries — not Black's, not Tomlin's, not Cowell's *Interpreter*, not Jacob's *Law Dictionary* — carry *enant* as an independent term of art. This absence across the shelf is itself informative: *enant* was not recognized as a discrete legal term requiring definition. Its appearance in Bouvier is structural or typographical, not definitional.
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Jurisdictional Note
Covenant doctrine, the likely subject matter underlying this term, varies meaningfully between common law jurisdictions. The running of covenants with land is treated differently under English law, American state property codes, and Restatement (Third) of Property principles. Researchers should not assume uniform treatment.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: COVENANTS; REAL COVENANTS; COVENANT RUNNING WITH THE LAND
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