indemnity 
indemnity (in-dem'ni-ti), n. [< F. indemnite 
= Sp. indemnidad = Pg. indemnidade = It. in- 
denitita, < LL. indenmita(t-)s, security from loss 
or damage, < L. indemnis, unhurt, undamaged, 
< in- priv. + dammnn, hurt, damage : see <to- 
age.'] 1. Security given against or exemption 
granted from damage, loss, injury, or punish- 
ment. 
I am content to graunt him for the while that they wyl 
sufficiently prouide for ttnndempnitye of the witnesses. 
Sir T. More, Works, p. 970. 
2. Indemnification; compensation for loss, 
damage, or injury sustained; reimbursement. 
A promise is held out of an indemnity, in the shape of 
new territory, for the expenses of Prussia in the war, 
should it come to a happy issue. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, App. ii., p. 408. 
3. In law, that which is given to a person who 
has assumed or is about to assume a responsi- 
bility at the request or for the benefit of an- 
other, in order to make good to him any loss 
or liability which has or may come upon him 
by SO doing. More specifically (a) The actual reim- 
bursement of such loss or discharge of such liability. (M 
A transfer, mortgage, or pledge of property, or the giving 
of an obligation, to provide for future reimbursement or 
discharge in case loss or liability should occur. There is 
an important distinction, in this latter use of the term as 
designating a contract for future protection, between in- 
demnity against loss and indemnity against liability. If 
the object of a contract for indemnity is expressed as be- 
ing to secure against loss or damage, or in other equiva- 
lent words, the obligation becomes enforceable only when 
actual loss or damage has been incurred. If it is expressed 
to be against liability, or in equivalent words, the obliga- 
tion is enforceable whenever the person to whom it is 
given becomes liable, by conduct or forbearance such as 
was contemplated, and the other does not promptly relieve 
him of the liability by satisfying it at once, so as to prevent 
his incurring loss or damage. Thus, upon an indemnity 
"against costs," the party is entitled to receive not what 
costs he is liable to pay, but only what costs he has ac- 
tually paid. Act Of indemnity, an act or decree absolv- 
ing a public officer or other person who has used doubt- 
ful powers, or usurped an authority not belonging to htm, 
from the technical legal penalties or liabilities therefor, 
or from making good losses incurred thereby. In Great 
Britain an indemnity act was formerly passed every year, 
until the general act of :n and 32 Viet., c. 72, 16, was pass- 
ed to absolve those who had failed to take an oath of office 
required of them. Bond Of Indemnity. See bondl. 
indemonstrability (in-de-mon-stra-bil'i-ti), " 
[< indemonstrable : see -b'ility.] The condition 
or quality of being indemonstrable. 
indemonstrable (iu-de-mon'stra-bl). a. [= P. 
indemontrable = Sp. iiidemostrable, < LL. inde- 
monstrabilis, that cannot be proved, < in- priv. + 
demonstrabilis, that can be proved: see demon- 
strable.] 1. Not demonstrable; incapable of 
being demonstrated. 
Because the degree of malignity in every errour was 
oftentimes undiscernable, and most commonly indemon- 
strable, their zeal was alike against all. 
Jer. Taylor, Liberty of Prophesying, 2. 
2. Immediately evident ; axiomatical ; not ca- 
pable of being made more evident. 
We find likewise some of the axioms of geometry men- 
tioned by Aristotle as axioms, and as indemonstrable prin- 
ciples of mathematical reasoning. 
Reid, Intellectual Powers, vi. 7. 
indemonstrableness (in-de-mon'stra-bl-nes), 
n. The character of being 'indemonstrable. 
indentation (in-den-i-za'shon), n. Same as 
endenization. 
indenizet (in-den'iz), v. t. Same as endeniee. 
indenizen (in-den'i-zn), v. t. Same as endeni- 
zen. 
indent 1 (in-denf), v. t. [< t-i -I- denfl, after 
indent 2 .] 1. To make a dent or depression in, 
as by a blow or by pressure : dent or dint. 
With shields indented deep in glorious wars. 
Pope, Odyssey, xix. 
2. To dent or press in; form as a dent or de- 
pression . 
There was a struggle within her. which found expression 
in the depth of the few last lines the parasol indented into 
the table-cloth. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, iv. 2. 
indent 2 (in-denf ), v. [< ME. inden ten, en denten, 
indent (def. I., 2), < OF. endenter, F. endenter = 
Sp. Pg. endentar = It. indentare,< ML. indenture, 
make notches in like teeth, notch, jag, indent 
(a document), < L. in, in, + den(t-)s = E. tooth : 
see dent?.] I. trans. 1. To make notches in 
resembling teeth ; cut into points or jags like 
a row of teeth; notch; jag; serrate. 
Our siluer Medway (which doth deepe indent 
The Flowrie Medowes of My natiue Kent). 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. 
Thus did he indent a passage for this Riuer. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 83. 
Fold upon fold of the indented hills and islands melt- 
ing from the brightness of the sea into thu untempered 
brilliance of the sky. 
J. A. Symunda, Italy and Greece, p. 208. 
3054 
The niches which surround the three high doors . . . 
and indent the four great buttresses. 
B. Jarnen, Jr., Little Tour, p. 11. 
Specifically 2. Formerly, to notch the edges of 
(two copies of a writing, as a deed, covenant, 
articles of agreement, etc., in which two parties 
had an interest), as a conventional means of 
identification and security. It was the custom to 
write duplicates of the deed or covenant on one sheet, and 
then cut them apart by a waving or jagged line. One part 
was given to each party in interest, and its genuineness 
could be subsequently attested by the coincidence of its 
indented margin with the indented margin of the other 
part. 
And for to deliuere, be bill endented, to the newe Aldir- 
man and maistres, alle manere of ornemens and other 
diuerse nescesaries to the fraternite longynge. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 450. 
Articles of agreement, indented, between the spectators 
or hearers . . . and the author. 
B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, Ind. 
Hence 3. To covenant or bargain for; trans- 
fer by covenant ; indenture. 
We should follow his word in serving of him, and take 
it no less than idolatry or image-service, whatsoever thing 
is indented by man, saint, or angel, and not by him, con- 
cerning his worship and service. 
J. Bradford, Works (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 318. 
Below them [the upper and ruling classes] were the in- 
dented servants, some of whom were convicts, and some of 
whom had bound themselves for a term of years to defray 
the expenses of their transportation. 
Johns Hopkins Hist. Studies, III. ii. 
4. In type-setting and writing, to throw or sink 
inward by a blank space in the margin, as the 
first line of a paragraph; hence, to begin, or 
exceptionally to begin and end, with a fixed 
amount of blank space, whether evenly or un- 
evenly, as lines of poetry or of type specially 
arranged. See indention 2 . 
Indenting after a Break ... is an m Quadrat ... set 
at the beginning of a line. But when verses are indented, 
two, three, or four m Quadrats are used. 
J. iloxon, Mechanical Exercises, II. 220. 
Authors should make the beginning of a new paragraph 
conspicuous to the compositor, by indenting the first line 
of it far enough to distinguish it from the preceding line. 
Stower, Printer's Qrammar, p. 164. 
II. intrans. If. To move in a zigzag course ; 
wind in and out ; double in moving. 
His head growes giddy, and his foot indents, 
A mighty fume his troubled brain torments. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Ark. 
Then shalt thou see the dew-bedabbled wretch [the hare[ 
Turn and return, indenting with the way. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 704. 
2. To contract; bargain; make a compact. 
Shall we buy treason? mdindent with feres? 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., i. 3. 
The Polanders indented with Henry Duke of Anjou, their 
new chosen king, to bring with him an hundred families 
of artificers into Poland. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., To the Reader, p. 58. 
I flre with indignation, when I see persons wholly des- 
titute of education and genius indent to the press. 
Goldsmith, Polite Learning, xi. 
indent 2 (in-denf), n. [< indent 2 , v.~\ 1. A cut 
or notch in the margin, or a recess like a notch; 
an indentation. 
It [the Trent] shall not wind with such a deep indent, 
To rob me of so rich a bottom here. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 
The deep-worn ruts 
Of faith and habit, by whose deep indent 
Prudence may guide if genius be not lent. 
Lowell, The Brakes. 
The Bay of Chaleurs or other important indents of the 
coasts. West-minster Rev., CXXV. 402. 
2. A writing, as a deed, covenant, contract, or- 
der for goods, articles of agreement, etc., hav- 
ing the edges indented (see indent 2 , v. t., 2, 3) ; 
hence, any covenant. 
In negotiating with princes we ought to seeke their fa- 
uour by humilitie, and not by sternnesse, nor to trafficke 
with them by way of indent or condition, but frankly, and 
by manner of submission to their wils. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber), p. 299. 
3. An indented certificate issued by the United 
States government at the close of the Revolu- 
tion, for the principal or interest due on the 
public debt. Burrill. 
indentation 1 (in-den-ta'shon), n. [< indentl + 
-ation. In form the same as indentation 2 , which 
goes with indent 2 , the verbs indenfl and indent 2 
being partly confused : see indent fl- and inden- 
tion^.'] A small hollow or depression ; a dent or 
slight pit, as from a blow or from pressure ; an 
impressed cavity: as, the indetitations in a bat- 
tered shield. 
She showed the indentations made by the lieutenant- 
governor's sword-hilt in the door-panels of the apartment. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, v. 
An indistinct indentation of a round stamp, about the 
size of an American one-cent piece. 
A', and (J., utll ser., XI. 270. 
indenture 
indentation 2 (in-den-ta'shon), n. [= F. inden- 
tation = Pg. endentagSo, < ML. as if "indenta- 
tio(n-), a notching, < indenture, notch, indent : 
see indent*.] 1. The act of indenting, or the 
state of being indented ; the act of notching, 
or of cutting into points or inequalities like a 
row of teeth. 2. A cut or notch in a margin ; 
a recess or depression. 3. In printing. See 
indention 2 . 
indented (in-den'ted), p. a. [< indent 2 + -ed 2 . 
Of. equiv. F. indente= Sp. Pg. endentado, < ML. 
indentatus, pp. of in- 
denture, indent: seei- 
dent 2 .] 1. Having the 
edge or margin cut into 
points like teeth ; zig- 
zag : as, an indented pa- 
per; an indented mold- 
ing. Indented moldings are a common orna- 
mental feature in medieval architecture. 
It [a snake] unlink <1 itself, 
And with indented glides did slip away. 
Shak., As you Like it, iv. 3. 
J'HI 
Indented Molding. 
Indentee border- 
Fesse Indentilly 
at the bottom. 
Specifically 2. In entom.: (a) Having one or 
more angular notches : said of margins and of 
the edges of color-marks. (6) Having one or 
more sharp depressions : as, an indented stria or 
surface. 3. In her., like dancett6, but cut with 
smaller teeth : thus, a fesse indented will have 
eight or nine points, as opposed to three or four of 
dancett6. Also inraced and danclie Indented at 
a distance,in*f )., having notches or projecting teeth with 
a short horizontal outline between them. It is usual to ex- 
press in the blazon the number of dents that is, notches or 
projections. Indented battery. See lattery. Indent- 
ed embowed, in her., same as hacked. Indented in 
point, in her., having the dents or notches of the whole 
width of the bearing, so that the points reach alternately to 
the opposite sides. Thus, a fesse indented in point, or af esse 
indented per fesse in point, is divided by a zigzag line which 
touches both of its edges. Indented line, in fort. , a ser- 
rated line having salient and reentering 
angles and sides which defend each nm mr *m v^ t 
other. Indented parapet, a parapet ]J* 
having vertical recesses in its interior 
slope, forming standing-places for the 
men to fire along the front of the work. 
indentee (in-den-te'), a. [< F. 
indente, indented : see indented.] 
In her., having indents not joined 
to each other, but set apart. 
indentilly (in-den-til'i), a. [< 
OF. endentele, equiv. to endente, indented: see 
indented, and cf. dentil, dentel.] In Tier., hav- 
ing long indents, somewhat re- 
sembling piles conjoined : as, a 
fesse indentilly at the bottom. 
indention 1 (in-den'shon), M. [< 
indent 1 -f- -ion.] A dent or 
denting in; an impressed hol- 
low ; a slight depression. 
Should the piece of paper [adhering to 
the block] remain unnoticed for some 
time, it will make a small indention in 
the block, and occasion a white or grey speck in the im- 
pressions printed after its removal. 
Chatto, Wood Engraving, p. 564. 
indention 2 (in-den'shon), n. [A short form for 
indentation 2 , with ref. to indent 2 , indenting, in 
printers' use.] In type-setting and writing, an 
indenting or sinking inward by a blank space, 
as of the beginning of a line beyond that of ad- 
joining lines; hence, any determinate space 
left before the beginning, or exceptionally af- 
ter the end, of lines, whether alternating or 
equal throughout, as in poetry, etc. 
The mere indention of an em [is] scarcely perceptible 
when the measure is very long. 
Adam*, Typographia, p. 113. 
Diamond indention, in printing, an indenting of every 
line after the first with even shortening on both sides, and 
with an increasing blank, so that the printed lines tend to a 
point on the last line. Hanging indention, an indention 
of uniform amount at the beginninff of each line except 
the flrst^ that one being of full width, and so overhanging 
the others, as with the matter below a title-word in this 
dictionary. A paragraph so indented is called a hanging 
paragraph. motto indention, an indention forming a 
blank of about one half the width of the measure on the 
left-hand side. 
indentmentt (in-dent'ment), n. [< indent 2 + 
-went.] Indenture. Sp. Hall. 
indenture (in-den'tur), n. [< OF. endenture, < 
ML. indenture (ef . It. indrntatitra). an inden- 
ture, < indenture, indent: see indent*.] 1. The 
act of indenting, or the state of being indent- 
ed; indentation. 
The general direction of the shore ... is remarkably 
direct east and west, with only occasional indentures and 
projections of bays and promontories. 
Mitford, Hist. Greece (ed. 1829), VIII. 817. 
Till lips and teeth bite in their sharp indenture. 
A. C. S-a>inlttirne, A Cameo. 
