A written contract by which a person, company, or party engages to pay a certain sum on certain contingencies, as in the case of fire or shipwreck, in the event of death, etc., on the condition of receiving a fixed sum or percentage on the amount of the risk, or certain periodical payments. See insurance, Polity; administration; public business, The method by which any institution is administered; system of management; course, transitive verb_ obsolete To regulate by laws; to reduce to order