mortgage

 
Pronunciation: /ˈmɔːgɪdʒ/

noun

  • a legal agreement by which a bank, building society, etc. lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor’s property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt: I put down a hundred thousand in cash and took out a mortgage for the rest
  • the amount of money borrowed in a mortgage: a £60,000 mortgage
  • a deed effecting a mortgage.

verb

[with object]
  • convey (a property) to a creditor as security on a loan: the estate was mortgaged up to the hilt (as adjective, with submodifier mortgaged) a heavily mortgaged farm
  • expose to future risk or constraint for the sake of immediate advantage: some people worry that selling off state assets mortgages the country’s future

Derivatives

mortgageable

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, literally 'dead pledge', from mort (from Latin mortuus 'dead') + gage 'pledge'

Spelling help

Remember that mortgage is spelled with a t after the r, although it is not heard when you say the word.