Definition of: title

(tīt′l) noun
1. Law a The means whereby the owner of lands has the just possession of his property; the union of possession, the right of possession, and the right of property in lands and tenements; also, the legal evidence of one's right of property, or the means by or source from which one's right to property has accrued: title by purchase. b The distinguishing form of words that heads or opens a legal document or statute; also, the opening clause containing the name of the court in which any action is pending, together with the names of the parties, etc.
2. A claim based on an acknowledged or alleged right: What is his title to credence?
3. A section or division of a statute, legal document, treatise, or the like.
4. An inscription that serves as a name for designating something, as a book or legal document.
5. A name; descriptive designation.
6. An appellation significant of office, rank, etc.; especially, a designation of nobility.
7. In or near Rome, a church or parish headed by a cardinal: so called because dedicated to or named after the title of some martyr or saint.
8. A source of maintenance, as a patrimony, or a place of duty, especially with income attached, a right or nomination to which is a canonical prerequisite to ordination.
9. In some sports, supremacy; championship: to play for the title. See synonyms under NAME.
—v.t. ·tled, ·tling
1. To give a name to; entitle; call.
2. To confer an honorary title upon; ennoble. [<OF <L titulus a label, an inscription. Doublet of TITTLE.]
—ti′tle·less adjective