A contract or agreement to hire a ship or part of its cargo space for transporting goods.
From 'affreight' + the noun suffix '-ment,' following the pattern of English abstract nouns. It developed as maritime law became more formal.
An 'affreightment' contract is essentially the same today as it was in the 1500s—a detailed agreement about loading, unloading, payment, and liability—showing how sophisticated commercial law was centuries before modern business.
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