Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mortgagee” come from?

Mortgagee comes from English mortgage, from Old French mortgage combining mort meaning "death" from Latin mortuus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mer- meaning "to die."

mortgagee (English): One who provides a loan secured upon the...

Definitions

  1. One who provides a loan secured upon the...

Ancestry of “mortgagee”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmortgageA special form of secured loan where the purpose...
2Middle Frenchmortgage—
3Anglo-Normanmorgagemortgage
4Old Frenchmortpast participle of morir; dead; death
5Vulgar Latinmortus—
6Latinmortuusdead, having died; decayed, withered; faint,...
7Proto-Italicmortwos—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanmr̥twós—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanmer-to die; to disappear; sea, lake, wetland
Every word from Proto-Indo-European mer- →