WORD HISTORY: The great jurist Sir Edward Coke, who lived from 1552 to 1634, has explained why the term mortgage comes from the Old French words mort, “dead,” and gage, “pledge.” It seemed to him that it had to do with the doubtfulness of whether or not the mortgagor will pay the debt. If the mortgagor does not, then the land pledged to the mortgagee as security for the debt “is taken from him for ever, and so dead to him upon condition, &c. And if he doth pay the money, then the pledge is dead as to the [mortgagee].” This etymology, as understood by 17th-century attorneys, of the Old French term morgage, which we adopted, may well be correct. The term has been in English much longer than the 17th century, being first recorded in Middle English with the form mortgage and the figurative sense “pledge” in a work written before 1393.
Well, now you know...
Have a great weekend and please don't forget to vist Darryl Baskin's website at darrylbaskin.com to learn about the CASA Homes Tour this weekend!
If you have questions about mortgages, please do not hesitate to call us any time at 918.481.6833.
Sincerely,
Jeff Sargent
President
ONB Bank & Trust Residential Mortgage Division
8908 S Yale Ave, Suite 250
Tulsa, OK 74137
Office: 918.481.6833
jeff_sargent@onbbank.com
member FDIC
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment