I. ˈmȯrgij, ˈmȯ(ə)g-, -gēj noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English morgage, from Middle French, from Old French, from mort dead (from Latin mortuus, past participle of mori to die) + gage security, gage — more at murder , gage
1.
a. : a conveyance of property upon condition (as security for the payment of a debt or the performance of a duty) that operates as a lien or charge securing the payment of the money or the performance of an obligation so that the mortgagee may under certain conditions take possession and may foreclose the property upon default, that becomes void upon payment or performance according to stipulated terms, and that leaves possession with the mortgagor and subjects the mortgagee's defeasible estate in the land to the equity of redemption and foreclosure rules of the equity courts — see chattel mortgage , equitable mortgage , first mortgage , installment mortgage , junior mortgage , leasehold mortgage , participating mortgage , purchase-money mortgage , second mortgage , trust mortgage ; compare antichresis , equity of redemption , gage , hypothec , living pledge , pledge
b. : the instrument by which a mortgage conveyance is made, the state of the property so conveyed, or the interest of the mortgagee in it
2. : a binding obligation
however stridently the American writer may protest his Americanism … he can never pay off his mortgage to the past — Times Literary Supplement
the first president … to feel unencumbered by any mortgage to Congress — W.E.Binkley
II. “, esp in pres part -gəj transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to grant or convey by a mortgage : make a mortgage conveyance of
2. : to subject to a claim or obligation : pledge
found myself mortgaged to my father for about one hundred and fifty dollars — Roger Eddy
a view of life … in which the individual is mortgaged to society — David Riesman