acta (plural)

a formal term for documents that are officially-certified records of actions, transactions, and proceedings, usually of a governing authority, but also (by analogy) of individuals; they are also certificates attesting to the official recognition or sanction of a status, state of being, or condition, such as certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, death, education, etc.; acta include both muniments and warrants (q.v.). Examples include minutes of meetings, registers of official actions, declarations, laws, regulations, oaths of office, ordinances, annotated dockets that record actions taken, bills of sale, mortgages, liens, leases, etc.