Adjacent Words

Mortmain definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MORT'MAIN, n. In law, possession of lands or tenements in dead hands, or hands that cannot alienate. Alienation in mortmain is an alienation of lands or tenements to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, particularly to religious houses, by which the estate becomes perpetually inherent in the corporation and unalienable.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation) [syn: mortmain, dead hand]
2: the oppressive influence of past events or decisions [syn: dead hand, dead hand of the past, mortmain]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English morte-mayne, from Anglo-French mortmain, from morte (feminine of mort dead) + main hand, from Latin manus — more at manual Date: 15th century 1. a. an inalienable possession of lands or buildings by an ecclesiastical or other corporation b. the condition of property or other gifts left to a corporation in perpetuity especially for religious, charitable, or public purposes 2. the influence of the past regarded as controlling the present

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Law 1 the status of lands or tenements held inalienably by an ecclesiastical or other corporation. 2 the land or tenements themselves. Etymology: ME f. AF, OF mortemain f. med.L mortua manus dead hand, prob. in allusion to impersonal ownership

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mortmain Mort"main`, n. [F. mort, morte, dead + main hand; F. main-morte. See Mortal, and Manual.] (Law) Possession of lands or tenements in, or conveyance to, dead hands, or hands that cannot alienate. Note: The term was originally applied to conveyance of land made to ecclesiastical bodies; afterward to conveyance made to any corporate body. --Burrill.