mortmain

noun /ˈmɔːt.meɪn/

1. The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church.

   uncountable

   [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 […]

   1824, Charter of Incorporation of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland,

2. A strong and inalienable possession.

   literary, uncountable

   […]; 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, […]

Where it comes from

From Anglo-Norman mortmayn, morte meyn, from Old French mortes meins, after Late Latin phrase mortua manus. See Latin mortuus (“dead”) + manus (“hand”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry mortmain (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← morionmosey →

Another random word More words starting with M