The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Record \Rec"ord\ (r[e^]k"[~e]rd), n. [OF. recort, record,
remembrance, attestation, record. See Record, v. t.]
1. A writing by which some act or event, or a number of acts
or events, is recorded; a register; as, a record of the
acts of the Hebrew kings; a record of the variations of
temperature during a certain time; a family record.
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2. Especially:
(a) An official contemporaneous writing by which the acts
of some public body, or public officer, are recorded;
as, a record of city ordinances; the records of the
receiver of taxes.
(b) An authentic official copy of a document which has
been entered in a book, or deposited in the keeping of
some officer designated by law.
(c) An official contemporaneous memorandum stating the
proceedings of a court of justice; a judicial record.
(d) The various legal papers used in a case, together with
memoranda of the proceedings of the court; as, it is
not permissible to allege facts not in the record.
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3. Testimony; witness; attestation.
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John bare record, saying. --John i. 32.
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4. That which serves to perpetuate a knowledge of acts or
events; a monument; a memorial.
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5. That which has been, or might be, recorded; the known
facts in the course, progress, or duration of anything, as
in the life of a public man; as, a politician with a good
or a bad record.
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6. That which has been publicly achieved in any kind of
competitive sport as recorded in some authoritative
manner, as the time made by a winning horse in a race.
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Court of record (pron. r?*k?rd" in Eng.), a court whose
acts and judicial proceedings are written on parchment or
in books for a perpetual memorial.
Debt of record, a debt which appears to be due by the
evidence of a court of record, as upon a judgment or a
cognizance.
Trial by record, a trial which is had when a matter of
record is pleaded, and the opposite party pleads that
there is no such record. In this case the trial is by
inspection of the record itself, no other evidence being
admissible. --Blackstone.
To beat the record, or To break the record (Sporting), to
surpass any performance of like kind as authoritatively
recorded; as, to break the record in a walking match.
Note: Records in many fields of endeavor are listed in the [a
href="http:]/www.guinessworldrecords.com">Guiness Book
of World Records.
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