Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Mortgage

Mort′gage

(môr′gā̍j; 48)
,
Noun.
[F.
mort-gage
;
mort
dead (L.
mortuus
) +
gage
pledge. See
Mortal
, and
Gage
.]
1.
(Law)
A conveyance of property, upon condition, as security for the payment of a debt or the preformance of a duty, and to become void upon payment or performance according to the stipulated terms; also, the written instrument by which the conveyance is made.
☞ It was called a mortgage (or dead pledge) because, whatever profit it might yield, it did not thereby redeem itself, but became lost or dead to the mortgager upon breach of the condition. But in equity a right of redemption is an inseparable incident of a mortgage until the mortgager is debarred by his own laches, or by judicial decree.
Cowell.
Kent.
2.
State of being pledged;
as, lands given in
mortgage
.
Chattel mortgage
.
See under
Chattel
.
To foreclose a mortgage
.
See under
Foreclose
.
Mortgage deed
(Law)
,
a deed given by way of mortgage.

Mort′gage

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mortgaged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Mortgaging
.]
1.
(Law)
To grant or convey, as property, for the security of a debt, or other engagement, upon a condition that if the debt or engagement shall be discharged according to the contract, the conveyance shall be void, otherwise to become absolute, subject, however, to the right of redemption.
2.
Hence: To pledge, either literally or figuratively; to make subject to a claim or obligation.
Mortgaging
their lives to covetise.
Spenser.
I myself an
mortgaged
to thy will.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Mortgage

MORTGAGE

,
Noun.
mor'gage.
1.
Literally, a dead pledge; the grant of an estate in fee as security for the payment of money, and on the condition that if the money shall be paid according to the contract, the grant shall be void, and the mortgagee shall re-convey the estate to the mortgager. Formerly the condition was,that if the mortgager should repay the money at the day specified, he might then re-enter on the estate granted in pledge; but the modern practice is for the mortgagee, on receiving payment, to reconvey the land to the mortgager. Before the time specified for payment, that is, between the time of contract and the time limited for payment, the estate is conditional, and the mortgagee is called tenant in mortgage; but on failure of payment at the time limited, the estate becomes absolute in the mortgagee. But in this case, courts of equity interpose,and if the estate is of more value than the debt, they will on application grant a reasonable time for the mortgager to redeem the estate. This is called the equity of redemption.
2.
The state of being pledged; as lands given in mortgage.
3.
A pledge of goods or chattels by a debtor to a creditor, as security for the debt.

MORTGAGE

,
Verb.
T.
mor'gage. To grant an estate in fee as security for money lent or contracted to be paid at a certain time, on condition that if the debt shall be discharged according to the contract, the grant shall be void, otherwise to remain in full force. It is customary to give a mortgage for securing the repayment of money lent, or the payment of the purchase money of an estate, or for any other debt.
1.
To pledge; to make liable to the payment of any debt or expenditure.
Already a portion of the entire capital of the nation is mortgaged for the support of drunkards.

Definition 2024


mortgage

mortgage

English

Alternative forms

Noun

mortgage (plural mortgages)

  1. (law) A special form of secured loan where the purpose of the loan must be specified to the lender, to purchase assets that must be fixed (not movable) property such as a house or piece of farm land. The assets are registered as the legal property of the borrower but the lender can seize them and dispose of them if they are not satisfied with the manner in which the repayment of the loan is conducted by the borrower. Once the loan is fully repaid, the lender loses this right of seizure and the assets are then deemed to be unencumbered.
    We're renting a property in the city centre because we can't afford to get a mortgage yet.
  2. (obsolete) State of being pledged.
    lands given in mortgage

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mortgage (third-person singular simple present mortgages, present participle mortgaging, simple past and past participle mortgaged)

  1. (transitive, law) To borrow against a property, to obtain a loan for another purpose by giving away the right of seizure to the lender over a fixed property such as a house or piece of land; to pledge a property in order to get a loan.
    to mortgage a property, an estate, a shop
    We mortgaged our house in order to start a company.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To pledge and make liable; to make subject to obligation; to achieve an immediate result by paying for it in the long term.
    • 1982, Verne Moberg, The Truth and Work of Victoria Benedictsson, page 72:
      She mortgaged her future for the pleasures of the relationship with the sculptor, a relationship she knew would be short.
    • 2001, Antony Rowland, Tony Harrison and the Holocaust, page 193:
      Like a latter-day Faustus who has mortgaged his soul to the pursuit of his art, Harrison now desperately craves the paternal love from which his learning has estranged him.

Related terms

Translations