entry
mortgage
/ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ/Secured loan backed by real property
From O.French / Latin mort (dead) + O.French gage (pledge).
from Latin mortuus , past participle of mori "to die" (from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm," also "to die"). The -t-...
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *mortus "dead,"
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *mortus "dead,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French mort gage (“dead pledge”), after a translation of judicial Medieval Latin mortuum wadium, with wadium
Word Ancestry
from Latin mortuus , past participle of mori "to die" (from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm," also "to die"). The -t-...
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *mortus "dead,"
+1 more sourcefrom Vulgar Latin *mortus "dead,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige , literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque )
+1 more sourcefrom Old French mort gage (“dead pledge”), after a translation of judicial Medieval Latin mortuum wadium, with wadium
A mortgage is really a legal little zombie: the pledge is alive while the debt lives, and dead the moment the bargain is satisfied or the property is seized. Medieval Law French had the deliciously grim phrase mort gage, literally “dead pledge,” and English lawyers picked it up in the late 1300s, spelling it morgage before later folks shoved the -t- back in to make it look more Latin. The second half is the same gage that gave us wage and even engage, so this word sits in a family of promises, payments, and obligations. Coke’s 1664 Littleton commentary spells out the drama: if you pay, the pledge dies; if you don’t, the land is dead to you forever. That is why every monthly payment on a mortgage feels like paying for the privilege of keeping a very stubborn ghost from moving into your house.
The Story
A mortgage is really a legal little zombie: the pledge is alive while the debt lives, and dead the moment the bargain is satisfied or the property is seized. Medieval Law French had the deliciously grim phrase mort gage, literally “dead pledge,” and English lawyers picked it up in the late 1300s, spelling it morgage before later folks shoved the -t- back in to make it look more Latin. The second half is the same gage that gave us wage and even engage, so this word sits in a family of promises, payments, and obligations. Coke’s 1664 Littleton commentary spells out the drama: if you pay, the pledge dies; if you don’t, the land is dead to you forever. That is why every monthly payment on a mortgage feels like paying for the privilege of keeping a very stubborn ghost from moving into your house.
Kin & Kindred
From 'mort'·dead
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'gage'·pledge, security
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary