The Meaning Of “Mortgage”
A “Dead Pledge”
Do you know what the word “mortgage” would mean in a literal sense? Strangely enough, the history of the word “mortgage” is French. It comprises the two French words mort (dead) and gage (pledge, pawn). You might know that the word gage with the meaning of pledge actually even found its way into ancient English.
Dead Land
The word mortgage originated from the doubtfulness of whether the mortgagor would be able to pay off the debt. If the mortgagor was unable to pay the debt, the land was taken away from them and was then considered “dead” to the mortgagor.