Covenant vs. Contract — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on September 16, 2023
A "Covenant" is a solemn agreement or promise between parties, often based on a moral or spiritual principle. A "Contract" is a legally binding agreement between parties that outlines terms, obligations, and remedies.
Difference Between Covenant and Contract
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A "Covenant" is often considered a sacred or moral commitment, and it typically involves a broader context of trust or shared values. "Contracts," however, are based on a legal framework and often focus on specific obligations and remedies. While covenants may not have legal standing, contracts are designed to be enforceable by law.
The word "Covenant" is more likely to be used in religious, moral, or social contexts. For example, a marriage covenant may focus on unbreakable bonds and lifelong commitment. "Contracts," in contrast, are more commonly found in business and law. They may specify conditions under which one party may break the agreement without repercussions.
Grammatically, both "Covenant" and "Contract" are primarily used as nouns, but both can also function as verbs. As a verb, to covenant is to make such a solemn promise, whereas to contract is to enter into a legally binding agreement. The verb forms illuminate the essence of these two terms: one is about moral commitment, the other about legal obligations.
The terms "Covenant" and "Contract" can sometimes be used interchangeably, but it's essential to note their nuances. For example, a lease for an apartment might technically be a contract, but if the landlord and tenant share a moral or ethical outlook, they might refer to it as a covenant.
Comparison Chart
Legal Binding
Generally not
Yes
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Context
Religious, Moral, Social
Business, Legal
Enforceability
By moral/social codes
By law
Flexibility
More flexible
More rigid
Grammatical Use
Noun, Verb
Noun, Verb
Compare with Definitions
Covenant
A solemn agreement based on moral or spiritual principles.
The couple entered into a marriage covenant.
Contract
A legally binding agreement between two or more parties.
She signed a contract for her new job.
Covenant
A mutual promise or commitment.
The community made a covenant to protect the environment.
Contract
An obligation enforceable by law.
He breached the contract and faced penalties.
Covenant
An agreement with religious significance.
God made a covenant with Abraham.
Contract
A written or spoken arrangement outlining specific terms.
The contract specified the deliverables.
Covenant
A pact based on trust and shared values.
The two nations signed a peace covenant.
Contract
A formalized set of conditions and obligations.
The contract detailed the terms of the sale.
Covenant
A vow often accompanied by rituals or ceremonies.
The covenant was sealed with the exchange of rings.
Contract
An agreement with predetermined consequences for breaking it.
The contract had a clause for early termination.
Covenant
A binding agreement; a compact.
Contract
A contract is a legally binding document between at least two parties that defines and governs the rights and duties of the parties to an agreement. A contract is legally enforceable because it meets the requirements and approval of the law.
Covenant
A condition in a contract such as a deed or lease, nonperformance or violation of which gives rise to a cause of action for breach.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law.
Covenant
A contract.
Contract
The writing or document containing such an agreement.
Covenant
In the Bible, a divine promise establishing or modifying God's relationship to humanity or to a particular group.
Contract
The branch of law dealing with formal agreements between parties.
Covenant
One of the agreements supported by a Covenanter.
Contract
Marriage as a formal agreement; betrothal.
Covenant
To promise by a covenant.
Contract
The last and highest bid of a suit in one hand in bridge.
Covenant
To enter into a covenant.
Contract
The number of tricks thus bid.
Covenant
(legal) An agreement to do or not do a particular thing.
Contract
Contract bridge.
Covenant
(legal) A promise, incidental to a deed or contract, either express or implied.
Contract
A paid assignment to murder someone
Put out a contract on the mobster's life.
Covenant
A pact or binding agreement between two or more parties.
Contract
To enter into by contract; establish or settle by formal agreement
Contract a marriage.
Covenant
An incidental clause in an agreement.
Contract
To acquire or incur
Contract obligations.
Contract a serious illness.
Covenant
To enter into, or promise something by, a covenant.
Contract
To reduce in size by drawing together; shrink.
Covenant
(legal) To enter a formal agreement.
Contract
To pull together; wrinkle.
Covenant
(legal) To bind oneself in contract.
Contract
(Grammar) To shorten (a word or words) by omitting or combining some of the letters or sounds, as do not to don't.
Covenant
(legal) To make a stipulation.
Contract
To enter into or make an agreement
Contract for garbage collection.
Covenant
A mutual agreement of two or more persons or parties, or one of the stipulations in such an agreement.
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant.
Let there be covenants drawn between us.
If we conclude a peace,It shall be with such strict and severe covenantsAs little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby.
Contract
To become reduced in size by or as if by being drawn together
The pupils of the patient's eyes contracted.
Covenant
An agreement made by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the English Parliament in 1643, to preserve the reformed religion in Scotland, and to extirpate popery and prelacy; - usually called the "Solemn League and Covenant."
He [Wharton] was born in the days of the Covenant, and was the heir of a covenanted house.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
Marriage is a contract.
Sign a contract
Write up a contract
Read a contract
Countersign a contract
Legally-binding contract
Unwritten contract
Covenant
The promises of God as revealed in the Scriptures, conditioned on certain terms on the part of man, as obedience, repentance, faith, etc.
I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Contract
(legal) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
Covenant
A solemn compact between members of a church to maintain its faith, discipline, etc.
Contract
(legal) The document containing such an agreement.
Covenant
An undertaking, on sufficient consideration, in writing and under seal, to do or to refrain from some act or thing; a contract; a stipulation; also, the document or writing containing the terms of agreement.
Contract
(legal) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
Covenant
To agree (with); to enter into a formal agreement; to bind one's self by contract; to make a stipulation.
Jupiter covenanted with him, that it should be hot or cold, wet or dry, . . . as the tenant should direct.
And they covenanted with him for thyrty pieces of silver.
Contract
(informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.
The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him.
Covenant
To grant or promise by covenant.
My covenant of peace that I covenanted with you.
Contract
(bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.
Covenant
A signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
Contract
(obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
Covenant
(Bible) an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return
Contract
(obsolete) Not abstract; concrete.
Covenant
Enter into a covenenant
Contract
(ambitransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
The snail’s body contracted into its shell.
To contract one’s sphere of action
Covenant
Enter into a covenant or formal agreement;
They covenanted with Judas for 30 pieces of silver
The nations covenanted to fight terrorism around the world
Contract
(grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”.
Contract
(transitive) To enter into a contract with. en
Contract
(transitive) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
Contract
(intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.
To contract for carrying the mail
Contract
(transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.
She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.
To contract a debt
Contract
(transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
Contract
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Contract
To betroth; to affiance.
Contract
To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.
In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties.
Contract
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.
Contract
To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.
Each from each contract new strength and light.
Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station.
Contract
To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen.
Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law.
Contract
To betroth; to affiance.
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us.
Contract
To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
Contract
To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.
Years contracting to a moment.
Contract
To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
Contract
Contracted; as, a contract verb.
Contract
Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
Contract
The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights.
Contract
A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
Contract
The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.
This is the the night of the contract.
Contract
A binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law
Contract
(contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make
Contract
A variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid
Contract
Enter into a contractual arrangement
Contract
Engage by written agreement;
They signed two new pitchers for the next season
Contract
Squeeze or press together;
She compressed her lips
The spasm contracted the muscle
Contract
Become smaller or draw together;
The fabric shrank
The balloon shrank
Contract
Be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness;
He got AIDS
She came down with pneumonia
She took a chill
Contract
Make smaller;
The heat contracted the woollen garment
Contract
Compress or concentrate;
Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan
Contract
Make or become more narrow or restricted;
The selection was narrowed
The road narrowed
Contract
Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
The manuscript must be shortened
Common Curiosities
What is a Covenant?
A Covenant is a solemn agreement often based on moral or spiritual principles.
Is a Covenant legally binding?
Generally, a Covenant is not legally binding but is based on moral or social codes.
Which is more flexible, Covenant or Contract?
Generally, Covenants are more flexible, focusing on the spirit of the agreement.
When is the term Contract commonly used?
Contract is typically used in business or legal contexts.
Can a Covenant turn into a Contract?
A Covenant can become a Contract if it meets legal criteria like consideration, intent, and agreement.
Is a Contract legally binding?
Yes, a Contract is legally binding and enforceable by law.
When is the term Covenant commonly used?
Covenant is often used in religious, social, or moral contexts.
What is a Contract?
A Contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties.
What are the remedies for breaking a Contract?
Legal action can be taken for breaking a Contract.
Which is more rigid, Covenant or Contract?
Contracts are generally more rigid and specify conditions and remedies.
Can Covenant be used as a verb?
Yes, to covenant means to make a solemn promise.
Can Contract be used as a verb?
Yes, to contract means to enter into a legally binding agreement.
What are the remedies for breaking a Covenant?
The remedies for breaking a Covenant are usually moral or social repercussions.
Are Covenants and Contracts interchangeable?
While sometimes used interchangeably, they have different implications regarding legality, context, and enforcement.
Can a Contract contain a Covenant?
Yes, a Contract can contain a Covenant as a special term of the agreement.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
