Where does “mortgage” come from?
Mortgage comes from Old French morgage, from Old French mort meaning "dead" and Frankish waddi meaning "pledge," ultimately from Latin mortuus and Proto-Indo-European mer- meaning "to die."
mortgage (English): A special form of secured loan where the purpose...
Definitions
- A special form of secured loan where the purpose...
Ancestry of “mortgage”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | mortgage | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | morgage | mortgage |
| 3 | Old French | mort | past participle of morir; dead; death |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | mortus | — |
| 5 | Latin | mortuus | dead, having died; decayed, withered; faint,... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | mortwos | dead |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mr̥twós | dead |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mer- | to die; to disappear; sea, lake, wetland |