presentments

Noun

presentment (countable and uncountable, plural presentments)

1. A statement made on oath by a jury.
   • In 1771, a grand jury presentment in Georgia revealed that "Slaves are permitted to rent houses …."1993, Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Penguin History, paperback edition, page 62
2. The notice taken by a grand jury of any offence from their own knowledge or observation, without any bill of indictment laid before them.
   • the presentment of a nuisance, a libel, etc.
3. A formal complaint submitted to a bishop or archdeacon.
   • He recognised that there was general resentment of the oppressive conduct of the Forest officers, and made provision for regular inquiries into it, and for presentment of Forest offences to be made at the attachment courts, as a procedure preliminary to the Forest Eyre.1991, Raymond Grant, The Royal Forests of England, Alan Sutton
4. The act of presenting something for acceptance; now specifically, presenting something (e.g. a bill or cheque) for payment.
   • When online bill presentment, which removes all the paperwork, becomes widespread, says McKinsey's Stephenson, online banking will be far more compelling.2000, Sarah Rose, “The Truth about Online Banking”, in Money, vol. 29.4
5. (archaic) An artistic representation; a picture.
   • Noted among the who's-who in portraiture: Hopkinson's Secretary Hughes, Childe Hassam's Governor Alfred E. Smith, of New York, Edmund C. Tarbell's Mary at the Harpsichord, Lillian Westcott Hale's child portrait study of Brothers, Frank Benson's Girl in Blue Jacket, and Marion Boyd Allen's...1923 December 21, “Arts: In Washington”, in Time
6. Presentation of a performance, as of a play or work of music.

See all 8 meanings of presentment