GRANT - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

GRANTAuthored

The Law Mind • 1783 words

Definition

A grant is a transfer of property, rights, or privileges from one party to another, typically by a formal instrument such as a deed, patent, or charter. The term carries distinct meanings depending on context:

1. Real property conveyance. In its broadest sense, grant is a generic term for any transfer of real property from one person to another. It encompasses the full range of conveyancing instruments — deeds, bargains and sales, gifts, leases — in that anyone who gives or sells property also grants it. More narrowly, grant refers specifically to the method of transferring incorporeal hereditaments (such as easements, rents, or advowsons) and other interests that cannot pass by the common law ceremony of livery of seisin, which required physical delivery of possession. Because incorporeal interests have no physical substance, they could not be handed over; they were conveyed by deed of grant instead.

2. Government and royal grants. A grant may also signify an act by which a sovereign, government, or public authority confers rights, franchises, land, or privileges upon a subject or entity. Historically, this took the form of letters patent under the great seal. In American law, federal and state land grants, legislative grants of corporate charters, and grants of public franchise fall within this meaning.

3. Operative word in deeds. Grant functions as a term of art in conveyancing instruments, signaling an intent to transfer. It is not strictly indispensable — courts have held that other words expressing the same intent will serve — but its presence carries defined legal weight, including implied covenants in many jurisdictions.

4. Grants of rights short of ownership. Grant is also used for the transfer of lesser interests: an easement created by express deed is a grant of an easement; a license elevated to a property interest may be characterized as a grant; governmental permissions and entitlements are frequently styled as grants.

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Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Wiktionary's primary entries for Grant as a common noun emphasize the giving or bestowing of something — a sum of money given by a government or institution for a specific purpose, or the act of granting a request.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "To give over; to make conveyance of; to give the possession or title of; to convey... To bestow or confer, with or without compensation, particularly in answer to prayer or request."

The ordinary sense of grant — to give something, or to concede a point — tracks the legal meaning more closely than most legal terms do in common usage. The important gap is precision: in common speech a grant is any gift or concession; in law, grant carries specific formal requirements, triggers implied covenants in many jurisdictions, and historically marked the only lawful method of conveying certain classes of property interest. A researcher who reads "grant" in an old deed or statute should not assume the word is merely decorative.

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Common Confusion

Grant vs. gift vs. devise vs. conveyance. These terms overlap but are not interchangeable. A gift typically implies a gratuitous transfer without a formal instrument; a devise is a testamentary transfer of real property by will; conveyance is the broadest term for any inter vivos transfer of property rights. Grant historically occupied a specific technical role — the transfer of incorporeal interests that could not pass by livery — but over time expanded to become a near-synonym for conveyance generally. Researchers using historical sources should be alert to this drift: an early common law authority using grant means something more precise than a modern treatise using the same word.

Grant vs. license. A grant conveys a property interest that runs with or binds the land; a license is a personal permission revocable by the grantor. The distinction matters enormously in easement litigation and in public franchise law. Courts have sometimes characterized a purported license as a grant (or vice versa), and the terminology in the original instrument may not be dispositive.

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Core Elements

For a deed of grant to operate as a valid conveyance of an interest in real property, the following elements are generally required:

1. Grantor with capacity and title. The grantor must have legal authority to convey and must hold the interest being transferred.
2. Grantee identifiable. The party receiving the grant must be ascertainable; a grant to an indefinite or nonexistent grantee is void or voidable.
3. Words of grant (granting clause). The instrument must contain language expressing the intent to transfer — traditionally the word grant itself, or equivalent operative language.
4. Description of the interest granted. The property or right being conveyed must be described with sufficient certainty.
5. Execution and delivery. The instrument must be signed by the grantor (and in many jurisdictions witnessed or acknowledged) and delivered to the grantee.

Note: Livery of seisin — physical delivery of a clod of earth or other symbolic act — was historically required for freehold estates in possession. Grant by deed was the mechanism that dispensed with livery for incorporeal interests. Modern law has abolished livery of seisin; the deed itself serves both functions.

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Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

Land grant. A transfer of public lands from a sovereign or government to a private party or institution. In American history, land grants by Congress to railroads, states, and settlers are a distinct legal and historical category with their own body of interpretive rules.

Express grant. A grant of an easement or other interest explicitly stated in a deed or separate instrument, as distinguished from an easement arising by implication or prescription.

Government/legislative grant. A grant of franchise, corporate charter, or special privilege by legislative act. These grants were the subject of significant constitutional litigation regarding the Contract Clause in the nineteenth century.

Grant in fee simple / grant in fee tail. Formulas specifying the quantum of estate conveyed — whether absolute ownership or a limited estate descendible only to lineal heirs.

Royal grant / letters patent. The historical form of sovereign grant, evidenced by letters patent under the great seal, conveying lands, titles, franchises, or monopolies from the Crown to a subject.

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Why It Matters in Research

Meaning shifts with era and document type. In sources before the mid-nineteenth century, grant has a precise technical meaning: the proper method of conveying incorporeal hereditaments. In modern statutes and cases, it often means little more than conveyance or transfer. A researcher reading an eighteenth-century treatise must apply the technical meaning; a researcher reading a modern deed or statute should not over-read historical precision into the term.

Implied covenants trap. In many American jurisdictions — and historically in English conveyancing — the word grant in a deed imports implied covenants of warranty or quiet enjoyment by operation of law, without the grantor expressly warranting anything. This is a research trap: an instrument that appears to transfer property without warranty may in fact carry statutory implied covenants simply because the drafter used the word grant. The scope of these implied covenants varies substantially by jurisdiction and by era, and historical sources often disagree about which covenants attach.

Government grant interpretation. Courts construing grants from the sovereign — land patents, franchise grants, legislative charters — apply the rule that ambiguities are resolved against the grantee and in favor of the public. This canon is the mirror image of the rule applied to private conveyances and appears consistently in both English and American authority. A researcher analyzing a grant of public land or a corporate charter must identify which interpretive canon applies.

Copyhold usage. Rapalje & Lawrence notes that grant is specifically applied to copyhold lands to signify a transfer of that tenure. Researchers in English legal history will encounter this usage in manorial records, where grant has a distinct procedural meaning tied to copyhold admission.

Corpus connections. In the Law Mind corpus, grant surfaces across property, constitutional, and administrative law materials. The property law sources concentrate on deed construction and the incorporeal/corporeal distinction. Constitutional sources engage the Contract Clause dimensions of legislative grants. Administrative and public lands sources address the interpretive rules for sovereign grants.

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Historical Dictionary Support

The major historical dictionaries are substantially in agreement on the core definition: grant is a generic term for transfers of real property, with a more specific technical meaning as the method of conveying incorporeal hereditaments by deed in contrast to livery of seisin for corporeal interests. Black's (both editions) and Bouvier adopt nearly identical language, drawing on Washburn's Real Property and Williams's Real Property as primary authorities. Burrill adds useful texture, characterizing grant in its large sense as "the passing of a thing from one person to another" and noting it comprehends feoffments, bargains and sales, gifts, and leases.

Rapalje & Lawrence is the most practically useful of the historical sources on conveyancing mechanics, noting that the word grant is not absolutely necessary in a deed — other words indicating an intent to grant will suffice — and providing the important point about copyhold tenure.

What the historical dictionaries underemphasize: the implied covenant problem. The dictionaries identify that grant is a term of art but give little systematic attention to the implied covenants that attach to the word by statute in many jurisdictions. A researcher relying solely on historical dictionary definitions would miss this dimension entirely and would need to consult jurisdiction-specific conveyancing statutes and treatises.

Anderson's Dictionary of Law, in the available excerpt, does not provide a direct entry on grant in its own right, though it references the common law method of transferring incorporeal hereditaments in an adjacent passage — consistent with the other sources.

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Jurisdictional Note

American jurisdictions vary significantly on what implied covenants, if any, the word grant imports into a deed. Some states (including California) have codified specific implied covenants that attach by statute when the word grant is used. Others attach no implied covenants beyond what is expressly stated. English common law attached covenants of right to convey and quiet enjoyment by implication. Researchers should not assume uniform treatment and should locate the relevant conveyancing statute for the jurisdiction and period under study.

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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Easements — Creation by Express Grant or Reservation (The Law Mind Property Law Encyclopedia)

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GRANTmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

A generic term applicable to all transfers of real property. 3 Washb. Real Prop. 181, 353. A transfer by deed of that which cannot be passed by livery. Williams, Real Prop. 147, 149. An act evidenced by letters patent under the great seal, granting something from the king to a subject. Cruise, Dig. tit. 33, 34. A technical term made use of in deeds of conveyance of lands to import a transfer. 3 Washb. Real Prop. 378–380. Though the word "grant" was originally made use of, in treating of conveyances of interests in lands, to denote a transfer by deed of that which could not be passed by livery, and, of course, was applied only to incorpo- real hereditaments, it has now become a gen-

GRANTmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888

COLLUSION.-LATIN: collusio, from colludere, to play together. 1. Generally. - Collusion is where two persons, apparently in a hostile position, or having conflicting interests, by arrangement do some act in order to injure a third person or deceive a court. Thus, where a person brought an action for penalties COLLIGENDUM BONA DEagainst a company by arrangement with FUNCTI.-See AD COLLIGENDUM, &C.; them, for the purpose of protecting them against other actions by hostile persons for the same penalties, it was held that the judgment was obtained by collusion. (Girdlestone v. Brighton Aquarium Co., 3 Ex. D. 137; 4 Id. 107.) The effect of collusion it to vitiate the transaction in which it is employed. As to the rights of the lord to heriots, rents, reliefs, forfeitures, &c., see those titles; also, COMMUTATION. As to the enfranchisement of copyholds, see that title; also, ANCIENT DEMESNE; CUSTOMARY FREEHOLDS; DEMESNE; SEIZURE; TENANT BY THE VERGE; (577) 2. The tenure by grand serjeanty still conalso. And so some grants are of the tinues, though it is no longer a tenure by knight's land or soil itself; and some are of some service, the Stat. 12 Car. II. c. 24, having converted it into free and common socage, merely profit to be taken out of or from the soil, preserving the honorary services incident to it. as rent, common, &c. And some are of Co. Litt. 108 a, n. 1. See CORNAGE; KNIGHT'S goods and chattels; and some are of other SERVICE; PETTY SERJEANTY; SERJEANT; things, as authorities, elections, &c." Shep. (578) of the will of the deceased is pending. Browne Prob. Pr. 224. 4. By the crown, or government. - dente lite, where a suit touching the validity "Grant" is the term commonly applied to rights created or transferred by the crown, or government, e. g. grants of pensions, patents, charters, franchises. Chit. Prerog. *384. § 5. Probate and administrationGeneral. A grant of probate or letters of administration is made when probate or administration is issued from the proper court. A grant is said to be general when it is unrestricted, and limited when it is confined to a part of the deceased's property, or to a period of time, or to a particular object. Browne Prob. Pr. 214 et seq. 6. Limited. - Where a married woman has made a will under a power, or disposing of her separate estate, the court will grant probate limited to the particular property. Id. 216. 27. De bonis non. If an executor or administrator dies or becomes incapable to act before he has administered the es tate, the court will appoint a new representative by granting probate or letters of administration de bonis non [administratis], "of the goods not administered," so that the new representative may complete the administration. Probate de bonis non is only granted (in England) where the deceased executor has specially appointed a person to be executor of the original testator's will, and not of his own. Id. 217. Grants limited in time. 9. Cessate. - When the time of a limited grant has expired, the person entitled may apply for a general and regular grant; this is called a supplemental or cessate grant. Id. 242. Grants limited to a particular object 10. The commonest instances are-(1) grants of administration ad litem, limited to the purpose of commencing, carrying on, or defending proceedings, involving a certain part of the deceased's estate; (2) grants of administration ad colligenda bona [defuncti], "to collect the goods [of the deceased]," where the estate is of a perishable or precarious nature, and regular probate or administration cannot be granted at once; (3) grants cæterorum [bonorum], "of the rest [of the goods]," where a grant limited to part of the estate, or to a particular purpose, has already been granted: thus, where probate is granted of the will of a married woman, disposing of her separate property, (supra, 26,) the husband is entitled to a grant cæterorum, i. e. to letters of administration of all her goods, except what she had power to dispose of by will. 11. "Save and except."-A grant save and except" is the reverse of a cæterorum grant. Thus, in the foregoing example, if the grant were made to the husband first, it would be a grant of administration to all his wife's goods and chattels, "save and except" such as she had power to dispose of, and had disposed 88. Durante viduitate, minoritate, &c. The commonest instances are grants of probate limited to the life or widowhood of the executor or executrix (Coote Pro. Pr. 41 et seq.); grants of administraof. Browne Prob. Pr. 237 et seq.; Coote Pro. Pr. 135 et seq. tion-(1) "till a will be found," where the will has been lost since the death of the testator; (2) durante minoritate, absentiâ or dementia, "during the minority," "absence" or "insanity" of the executor or person entitled to a general grant of adıninistration, hence sometimes called "grants for the use and benefit jus habentium," i. e. for the benefit of persons "having a right" to a grant (Id. 107, 116.) An administrator durante minore ætate, (and, assign, semble, every other administrator for a 538. limited period,) has all the powers of an ordinary administrator. (In re Cope, 16 Ch. D. 49; see GUARDIAN, & 13;) (3) pen- "license"). 3 Duer (N. Y.) 255, 258. GRANT, (defined). 5 Mass. 438, 471; 8 Johns. (Ν. Υ.) 385; 16 N. Y. 71, 75; 42 Wis. 532, 536; 1 Chit, Gen. Pr. 310. (how construed). 7 Pick. (Mass.) 344, 461; 8 Johns. (N. Y.) 495. (by government). 1 Black (U. S.) 358; 6 Cranch (U. S.) 87, 135; 7 Id. 164; 10 Pet. (U. S.) 334, 731; 9 Pick. (Mass.) 520. (does not imply a warranty). 1 Cro. 809. 309. (not equivalent to "bargain, sell, transfer and set over"). 15 East 530, (presumption of). 19 Wend. (N. Y.) (to enter on lands, distinguished from

GRANTv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To give over; to make conveyance of; to give the possession or title of; to convey; -- usually in answer to petition. Grant me the place of this threshing floor. 1 Chrcn. xxi. 22. To bestow or confer, with or without compensation, particularly in answer to prayer or request; to give. Wherefore did God grant me my request. Milton. To admit as true what is not yet satisfactorily proved; to yield belief to; to allow; to yield; to concede. Grant that the Fates have firmed by their decree. Dryden.

GRANTv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To assent; to consent. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GRANTn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

The act of granting; a bestowing or conferring; concession; allowance; permission. The yielding or admission of something in dispute. The thing or property granted; a gift; a boon. A transfer of property by deed or writing; especially, au appropriation or conveyance made by the government; as, a grant of land or of money; also, the deed or writing by which the transfer is made.

Grantname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

An English surname transferred from the nickname and a Scottish clan name, from a nickname meaning "large". | A male given name transferred from the surname. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Marshall County, Alabama. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Park County, Colorado. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A small city in Montgomery County, Iowa. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A small city in Newaygo County, Michigan. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A city in Washington County, Minnesota. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A small city, the county seat of Perkins County, Nebraska. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Hardin County, Ohio. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | An unincorporated community in Mason County, Washington. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Clark County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Dunn County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Monroe County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Portage County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Rusk County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A town in Shawano County, Wisconsin. | A placename | A number of places in the United States: | A large number of townships in the United States, listed under Grant Township. | A placename | A rural municipality in Saskatchewan, Canada; in full, the Rural Municipality of Grant No. 372. | A placename | A former rural locality in Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. | A placename | A village in Tolmin, Slovenia. | A placename | Ellipsis of Grant City. | A placename | Ellipsis of Grant County. | A placename | Ellipsis of Grant Parish. | A placename | Ellipsis of Grant Town. | A placename | Ellipsis of Grant Township.

grantverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To give (permission or wish). | To give (bestow upon or confer, particularly in answer to prayer or request). | To agree with (someone) on (something); to accept (something) for the sake of argument; to admit to (someone) that (something) is true. | To assent; to consent.

grantnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The act of granting or giving | The yielding or admission of something in dispute. | The thing or property granted; a gift; a boon. | A transfer of property by deed or writing; especially, an appropriation or conveyance made by the government. | The deed or writing by which such a transfer is made. | An application for a grant (monetary boon to aid research or the like).

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