Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MORT'GAGE, n. [mor'gage; Fr. mort, dead, and gage; pledge.]

1. Literally, a dead pledge; the grant of an estate in fee as security for the payment of money, and on the condition that if the money shall be paid according to the contract, the grant shall be void, and the mortgagee shall reconvey the estate to the mortgager. Formerly the condition was, that if the mortgager should repay the money at the day specified, he might then re-enter on the estate granted in pledge; but the modern practice is for the mortgagee, on receiving payment, to reconvey the land to the mortgager. Before the time specified for payment, that is, between the time of contract and the time limited for payment, the estate is conditional, and the mortgagee is called tenant in mortgage; but on failure of payment at the time limited, the estate becomes absolute in the mortgagee. But in this case, courts of equity interpose, and if the estate is of more value than the debt, they will on application grant a reasonable time for the mortgager to redeem the estate. This is called the equity of redemption. Blackstone.
2. The state of being pledged as, lands given in mortgage.
3. A pledge of goods or chattels by a debtor to a creditor, as security for the debt. Kent. [This use is of modern origin.]