Engross

To print a final copy of a document. In archaic CRIMINAL LAW, engrossment was the process of forcing higher the price of a good by buying it up and creating a MONOPOLY.

Engrossment was used in ancient law where the method of drawing up a written deed or contract involved working out a rough draft and then having the final terms of the instrument copied legibly onto parchment paper. Today the term denotes modern forms of copying, including engraving or any other such form of printing that will provide a legible final copy.

Engrossment is also used to describe a step in the enactment of statutes. During the legislative process, a bill may be debated, read, altered, or amended until it is ultimately passed in a final form. The process of engrossing is the printing of an act in its final form and its enrollment.