mortgage

Where does the word "mortgage" come from? It comes from Old French mort gage, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Mortgage’s story begins in Old French: mort gage meant “a dead pledge.” Literally dead pledge, since the debt or the pledge itself dies once paid or foreclosed. It reached English by 1300s as mortgage. Settled as the English word for a loan secured against property. Today, mortgage means a loan used to purchase property, secured against the property itself.

1. Stage 1 · Old French · medieval mort gage "a dead pledge", literally dead pledge, since the debt or the pledge itself dies once paid or foreclosed.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s mortgage "a loan secured against property", settled as the English word for a loan secured against property.