Mortmain
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church. uncountable, usually
"1824, Charter of Incorporation of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, [W]e do hereby grant our especial license and authority unto all and every person […] to grant sell alien and convey in mortmain unto and to the use of the said Society and their successors […]"
- 2 the oppressive influence of past events or decisions wordnet
- 3 A strong and inalienable possession. literary, uncountable, usually
"[…]; and some part of that influence [of the government], which would otherwise have been possessed as in a sort of mortmain and unalienable domain, returned again to the great ocean from whence it arose, […]"
- 4 real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation) wordnet
Example
More examples"1824, Charter of Incorporation of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, [W]e do hereby grant our especial license and authority unto all and every person […] to grant sell alien and convey in mortmain unto and to the use of the said Society and their successors […]"
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman mortmayn, morte meyn, from Old French mortes meins, after Late Latin phrase mortua manus. See Latin mortuus (“dead”) + manus (“hand”).
More for "mortmain"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.