What does mortgaging mean?
Mortgaging is the act of pledging property as security for a loan. The arrangement is especially common for homes and other real estate, where the lender can claim the property if the borrower fails to repay the debt. Mortgaging can also refer more broadly to putting valuable assets, or rights to income, under a lender's claim as collateral. The word is most naturally used in legal, financial, and property contexts and often carries the practical implication of taking on a long-term financial obligation. In everyday English, people usually say “mortgage a house” rather than “mortgage property,” although the latter is established and useful when discussing several kinds of assets. The expression is also used figuratively when someone commits future income or assets to a project, usually with the implication that the commitment creates risk.
verbTo pledge property as security for a loan, typically a house or other real estate. It can also mean to put an asset or right to income under a similar financial arrangement.
- To pledge property as security for a loan, especially a mortgage on real estate.
- To use an asset or a claim to income as collateral for borrowing.
"The family began mortgaging its home to finance the business expansion."
"They spent years mortgaging the farm before they could expand the business."
"The borrower was accused of mortgaging assets that had already been pledged to other lenders."
Mortgaging turns a house into both a home and a promise: the property secures the loan while the borrower must keep meeting its payments.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mortgaging come from?
The verb derives from the noun “mortgage,” which entered English from Old French “mortgage,” meaning a pledge or security. The Old French word combined “morir,” “to die,” with “gage,” “pledge,” reflecting the traditional idea that the pledged property would be surrendered if the debtor died without paying. The modern sense of securing a loan with real estate developed through the legal practice of transferring or forfeiting property as a guarantee of payment. “Mortgagor” and “mortgagee” are later derivatives naming, respectively, the borrower and the lender.
Related word forms
How mortgaging is actually used
The term is most strongly associated with real estate in British and American usage. It is formal or legal in tone, though the shorter form 'mortgage' is much more common in everyday speech.
Easily confused with mortgaging
A mortgage is the loan or security arrangement itself, while mortgaging is the act of pledging property to obtain it.