▪ I. mortgage, n.
(ˈmɔːgɪdʒ)
Forms: 4–7 morgage, 6 mortegage, 6– mortgage.
[a. OF. mortgage (13th c.) lit. ‘dead pledge’ (see mort a. and gage n.): whence med.L. mortuum vadium and mor(t)gagium.
For the explanation of the etymological meaning of the term current among 17th c. lawyers, see the following quot.
1628 Coke On Litt. 205 It seemeth that the cause why it is called mortgage is, for that it is doubtful whether the Feoffor will pay at the day limited such summe or not, & if he doth not pay, then the Land which is put in pledge vpon condition for the payment of the money, is taken from him for euer, and so dead to him vpon condition, &c. And if he doth pay the money, then the pledge is dead as to the Tenant, &c.]
Law. The conveyance of real or personal property by a debtor (called the mortgagor) to a creditor (called the mortgagee) as security for a money debt, with the proviso that the property shall be reconveyed upon payment to the mortgagee of the sum secured within a certain period. Also applied to the deed by which the transaction is effected, the rights thereby conferred on the mortgagee, and the condition of being mortgaged.
‘The general object of mortgage is to secure a money debt by making it a charge on land, so that, if the debt be not paid by a time agreed upon between the parties, the creditor may sell the land and pay himself out of the proceeds’ (Encycl. Brit. s.v.).
| 1475 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 147/2 That all Maners, Londes [etc.]..of the which any persone..were seased, or had any astate, title,..or possession..in any maner morgage. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §37 Mortgages of landes tenementes or hereditamentes made or had after the saide feaste of Sainct John Baptest. a 1634 Randolph Muses Looking Gl. ii. iv, A glibbery heir With all his lands melted into a mortgage. 1642 Chas. I Sp. Wks. 1662 I. 412, I will..expose all My Land to Sale or Morgage. 1663 Cowley Cutter Coleman St. v. i, I have some Hold now upon my Estate again; (tho' she, I confess, be a Clog upon it worse than a Mortgage). 1708 Act 7 Anne c. 19 In like Manner as Trustees or Mortgagees of full Age are compellable to convey or assign their Trust Estates or Mortgages. 1728 Young Love Fame vi. (1757) 149 His lordship's rent-roll is exceeding great—But mortgages will sap the best estate. 1828 R. Peters Cases Supreme Crt. U.S. I. 441 In discussions in Courts of Equity, a mortgage is sometimes called a lien for a debt. 1856 W. R. Fisher Law Mortgage 3 The Welsh mortgage, by which the estate is conveyed absolutely to the creditor, without condition; the rents and profits being enjoyed by him in lieu of interest. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. i. 2 Mortgages were paid off the property with his wife's money. 1872 W. W. Barry Forms & Prec. Convey. 31 A mortgage is made by the same form of assurance as a conveyance, and contains somewhat similar recitals. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 84 They can borrow money by the mortgage of the buildings and machinery belonging to the company. |
b. Phrases.
† in mortgage: mortgaged.
† to lay in or to mortgage,
† set to mortgage: to mortgage.
to lend on mortgage: to advance (money) on the security of property,
esp. houses or land.
| [1390: see c.] c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 50 My purse and I be callid to the lure, Of indigence oure stuff leyde in morgage. 1448 Marg. Paston in Paston Lett. (1897) I. 69 That he wyl sett hys gode to morgage to Heydon. c 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 24 And whethir it [sc. the land] be in any morgage. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prel. F viij b, Then to do the kinge seruyce the lordes sell or laye their londes to morgage. 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures 77 b, As a man may make a feoffement in fee in Mortgage, so may a man make a gyft of the tayle in Mortgage. c 1595 Office Alien. in Bacon's Wks. (1730) III. 559 Sometime the land is given in mortgage only, with full intention to be redeemed within one year. 1719 State Trials, Ralegh (1730) I. 209, I knew her own Subjects..would not lend her Majesty Money, without Lands in Mortgage. 1844 J. Williams Real Prop. iv. (1845) 295 The larger proportion of the lands in this kingdom is at present in mortgage. 1849 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 62 Those to whom portions of the borrowed money were lent on mortgage. 1870 L'Estrange Life Miss Mitford III. vi. 88 The debts [were] paid, and the residue [of the money] placed out on mortgage. |
c. fig. (
Cf. mortgage v. b.)
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 234 In mariage His trouthe plight lith in morgage. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 166 Of eche thyng [he] medlithe, his thrift lithe to morgage. 1629 Massinger Picture v. iii, I know not..how to redeeme This morgage of her manners. 1633 Marmion Antiquary iv. i, If I plot not so, to make all hit, Then you shall take the morgage of my wit. 1684 T. Hockin God's Decrees 363 Men..suffer themselves..to be..ensnared into unhappy contracts and morgages of themselves. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. vi. (1869) 128 They will purchase the hollow happiness of the next five minutes, by a mortgage on the independance and comfort of years. 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. Introd., Poems (1890) II. 199 A man speaking to me once of a very rocky clearing said, ‘Stone's got a pretty heavy mortgage on that land’. |
† d. transf. A pledge.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest xvi. §11. 99 b, If it be found, that the dogge that was so deliuered to be kept, was a pledge, or a morgage for money. |
e. attrib., as
mortgage bond,
mortgage debt,
mortgage deed,
† mortgage man,
mortgage money,
mortgage security,
mortgage term;
mortgage rate, the rate of interest charged by the mortgagee on a loan secured by mortgage;
freq. used to refer to a common rate of interest on such loans agreed among building societies, etc.
| 1890 Century Dict., *Mortgage-bond, a bond secured by a mortgage. |
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XVI. 422/2 The mortgagee may..by express declaration, convert the *mortgage debt into land. |
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 158 That the second *mortgage deed, comprising all the mortgaged premises, put it in the power of the mortgagee..to [etc.]. 1864 Chamb. Encycl. VI. 580/1 The ordinary form of a mortgage-deed resembles an absolute conveyance. |
| 1708 Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1859) IV. 50 The said committee..there heard the claims and pretended titles of those gentlemen, called the *mortgage men. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 367/1 With condition to be void on repayment of the *mortgage-money. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law xiv. 92 Unless the mortgagor will pay off the mortgage-money at a short day. |
| 1935 H. Bellman Thrifty Three Millions xii. 263 The *mortgage rate is regarded as being chiefly dominated by the long-term rate of interest. 1952 Statist 8 Mar. 349/1 A 4 per cent mortgage rate to borrowing members. 1986 Economist 10 May 19/2 Not only has the basic mortgage rate been cut, but competition between building societies and banks has forced them to offer better terms. |
| 1864 Chamb. Encycl. VI. 580/1 Trustees are entitled to invest their funds there [sc. in Scotland] in *mortgage security. |
| 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 139 The question was whether a *mortgage term passed with copyholds, under a devise of all that his (testator's) estate in Bassey, to M. B. and her heirs. |
▪ II. mortgage, v. (
ˈmɔːgɪdʒ)
Also 6–7
morgage.
[a. obs. F. mor(t)gager, or f. prec. n.] trans. To make over (property,
esp. houses or land) as security for a money debt, on condition that if the debt is discharged the grant shall be void.
In early use, chiefly in
pa. pple.| 1530 Palsgr. 640/2 He hath nat solde his lande out ryght, but he hath mortgaged it for more than it is worthe. 1536 Layton in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 93 The howse is in dett gretly, the landes solde and morgagede, the fermes let owte. 1612 Dekker If it be not good E 3, This day..a Gallants bound To pay 400. Crownes to free his Landes Fast morgag'de to mee. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess. (1669) 90 [He] Does like an unthrift morgage his Estate Before it falls into his Hand. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, V. iv. 361 Lannoy, by mortgaging the revenues of Naples, procured some money. 1817 Wheaton Cases Supreme Crt. U.S. II. 396 If..the debtor has made a bona fide conveyance of his estate to a third person, or has mortgaged it to secure a debt. 1864 Chamb. Encycl. VI. 580/1 In Scotland there is no such practice as mortgaging lands with banks by merely depositing the title-deeds. 1875 M. E. Braddon Strange World I. iv. 64 The Bellingham estate was mortgaged up to the hilt when he inherited it. |
| absol. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. (1824) 270 If he wishes to mortgage, he falls the value of his land. 1819 Stat. Realm VI. 405 marg., Persons having mortgaged and mortgaging again without Notice to the Second..Mortgagee. |
b. fig. To pledge; to make liable;
esp. to establish a claim in advance upon (an income or the like); hence
pass. to be attached or pledged (
to something) in advance.
| 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Discipl. (Arb.) 3 Haue you morgaged the saluation of your soules and bodies, for the present fruition of your pompe and plesure? 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 46 Mortgaging their lives to Covetise. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxxiv, And I my selfe am morgag'd to thy will. 1651 Biggs New Disp. ¶290 Morgaged, and benighted to eternall dulnesse. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 493 ¶1 When Suitors of no Consideration will have Confidence enough to press upon their Superiors, those in Power..are mortgaged into Promises out of their Impatience of Importunity. a 1732 Gay Mad-dog Poems (1737) II. 67 Gaming succeeds; if fortune crosses, Then virtue's mortgag'd for her losses. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Conf. Drunkard, To mortgage miserable morrows for nights of madness. 1838 Lytton Alice iii. i, His income was already deeply mortgaged. 1838 Emerson Lit. Ethics (1875) II. 207 The new man must feel that he has not come into the world mortgaged to the opinions and usages of Europe. 1873 M. E. Braddon Str. & Pilgr. ii. ii. 164 Every man's autumn is mortgaged before the spring is over. 1887 Huxley in Life (1900) II. x. 163 What little energy I possess is mortgaged to quite other occupations. |
Hence
ˈmortgaging vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1625 Bacon Ess., Usury (Arb.) 543 As for Mortgaging, or Pawning, it will little mend the matter. 1768 Hume Ess., Publ. Credit 208 The abuses of mortgaging are more certain and inevitable. 1892 Daily News 25 Nov. 7/3 Large capitalist houses have continually taken over numbers of farms left by the mortgaging farmers. |