Added 9 October 2026
mortgage
/ˈmɔːɡɪd͡ʒ/ noun
In Latin: pignus, hypotheca Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mortgage at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
-
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, or a shop
- To pledge and make liable; to make subject to obligation; to achieve an immediate result by paying for it in the long term.
Origin
From Middle English morgage and Middle French mortgage, from Anglo-Norman morgage, from Old French mort gage (“dead pledge”), after a translation of judicial Medieval Latin mortuum wadium, with wadium from Frankish *wadi (“wager, pledge”). Compare gage and also wage. So called because rents and profits from the land were owed to the lender for as long as the gage existed (comparable to interest on a loan today), as opposed to the living gage, in which rents and profits automatically reduced the debt (paying it off over time).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)