mortgage
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A conditional conveyance of property as security for the repayment of a loan.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mawrguhjSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɔɹɡədʒ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
lawreal estate
A conditional conveyance of property as security for the repayment of a loan
lawreal estate
A legal agreement in which a borrower pledges real property as collateral for a loan used to purchase or refinance that property.
verb
transitivelaw
To borrow against a property, to obtain a loan for another purpose by giving away the right of seizure to the lender over a fixed property such as a house or piece of land; to pledge a property in order to get a loan.
transitivefigurative
To pledge and make liable; to make subject to obligation; to achieve an immediate result by paying for it in the long term.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A conditional conveyance of property as security for the repayment of a loan
Used this way, mortgage is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mortgage
- “Paying off the mortgage on their home took many years of hard work.”noun
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “mortgage” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.