mortgage
Definitions
A loan taken to buy property, with the property pledged as security until the debt is repaid
抵押贷款，按揭
To pledge a property as security for a loan
（把房产）抵押
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Old French mort ('dead') + gage ('pledge') = 'dead pledge.' The pledge is called dead because it ends in one of two ways: it dies when the loan is fully repaid, or it dies for the borrower who defaults and forfeits the property. Note the silent 't' — a relic of the French spelling that English kept but stopped pronouncing.
Root mort still carries 24 more wordsUsage Guide
The 't' in mortgage is silent: say MOR-gij, not MORT-gage. As a verb it usually appears as 'mortgage a property/house.' In British English 'a mortgage' is the standard word for a home loan; the lender is the 'mortgagee,' the borrower the 'mortgagor.'
Example Sentences
- 1.
They took out a thirty-year mortgage to buy their first home.
- 2.
Rising interest rates made her monthly mortgage payments much higher.
- 3.
The couple mortgaged their house to fund the new business.