articles

Function
noun, plural

American English Equivalent
written agreement

Definition 
Usually expanded to articles of agreement. A common use, in this sense, is in the term articles of apprenticeship. As a verb, to article is to bind by articles of apprenticeship, from which we get the term articled clerk, meaning 'apprentice.' That is the common term in the legal profession in Britain (see clerk, 1). When one's apprenticeship is ended, one comes out of articles. Accountants, too, have articled clerks, who, like those in law offices, are on their way to gaining full professional status.