2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 31D. West Virginia Business Corporation Act › Article 1. General Provisions › §31D-1-150. Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires a different meaning, the term:
(1) "Articles of incorporation" includes, but is not limited to, amended and restated articles of incorporation and articles of merger.
(2) "Authorized shares" means the shares of all classes a domestic or foreign corporation is authorized to issue.
(3) "Conspicuous" means written so that a reasonable person against whom the writing is to operate should have noticed, including, but not limited to, printing in italics or boldface or contrasting color, or typing in capitals or underlined.
(4) "Corporation" or "domestic corporation" means a corporation for profit, which is not a foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(5) "Deliver" or "delivery" means any method of delivery used in conventional commercial practice, including, but not limited to, delivery by hand, mail, commercial delivery and electronic transmission.
(6) "Distribution" means a direct or indirect transfer of money or other property or incurrence of indebtedness by a corporation to or for the benefit of its shareholders in respect of any of its shares: Provided, That "distribution" does not include a direct or indirect transfer of a corporation's own shares. A distribution may be in the form of a declaration or payment of a dividend; a purchase, redemption or other acquisition of shares; or a distribution of indebtedness.
(7) "Effective date of notice" means the date as determined pursuant to section one hundred fifty-one of this article.
(8) "Electronic transmission" or "electronically transmitted" means any process of communication not directly involving the physical transfer of paper that is suitable for the retention, retrieval and reproduction of information by the recipient.
(9) "Employee" includes an officer and may include a director: Provided, That the director has accepted duties that make him or her also an employee.
(10) "Entity" includes corporations and foreign corporations; nonprofit corporations; profit and nonprofit unincorporated associations; limited liability companies and foreign limited liability companies; business trusts, estates, partnerships, trusts and two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest; and state, United States and foreign government.
(11) "Foreign corporation" means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state.
(12) "Governmental subdivision" includes, but is not limited to, authorities, counties, districts and municipalities.
(13) "Individual" includes, but is not limited to, the estate of an incompetent or deceased individual.
(14) "Person" includes, but is not limited to, an individual and an entity.
(15) "Principal office" means the office so designated in the return required pursuant to section three, article twelve-c, chapter eleven of this code where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located.
(16) "Proceeding" includes, but is not limited to, civil suits and criminal, administrative and investigatory actions.
(17) "Record date" means the date established under article six or seven of this chapter on which a corporation determines the identity of its shareholders and their shareholdings. The determinations are to be made as of the close of business on the record date unless another time for doing so is specified when the record date is fixed.
(18) "Registered agent" means the agent identified by the corporation pursuant to section five hundred one, article five of this chapter.
(19) "Registered office" means the address of the registered agent for the corporation, as provided in section five hundred one, article five of this chapter.
(20) "Secretary" means the corporate officer to whom the board of directors has delegated responsibility under subsection (c), section eight hundred forty, article eight of this chapter for custody of the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors and the meetings of the shareholders and for authenticating records of the corporation.
(21) "Shareholder" means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or the beneficial owner of shares to the extent of the rights granted by a nominee certificate on file with a corporation.
(22) "Shares" means the units into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided.
(23) "Sign" or "signature" includes, but is not limited to, any manual, facsimile, conformed or electronic signature with means to identify a record by signature, mark or other symbol, with intent to authenticate it.
(24) "State", when referring to a part of the United States, includes a state and commonwealth and a territory and insular possession of the United States and their agencies and governmental subdivisions.
(25) "Subscriber" means a person who subscribes for shares in a corporation, whether before or after incorporation.
(26) "United States" includes, but is not limited to, districts, authorities, bureaus, commissions, departments and any other agency of the United States.
(27) "Voting group" means all shares of one or more classes or series that, pursuant to the articles of incorporation or this chapter, are entitled to vote and be counted together collectively on a matter at a meeting of shareholders. All shares entitled by the articles of incorporation or this chapter to vote generally on the matter are for that purpose a single voting group.
(28) "Voting power" means the current power to vote in the election of directors.