Past tense of mortgage; pledged property (usually a house) as security for a loan, with the agreement that the property can be taken if the loan isn't repaid.
From Old French 'mortgage,' literally meaning 'death pledge' from 'mort' (death) plus 'gage' (pledge). This naming is darkly poetic—the mortgage ends either when paid off or when the property is taken by the lender.
The term 'mortgage' means 'death pledge' because it literally dies when either the debt is paid or the house is taken—medieval French lawyers had a morbid sense of humor about financial contracts!
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