mechanic's lien
1
9.8
- noun
- /məˈkænɪks liːn/
- Jargon
:
derecho de retención
Examples
-
Yarborough went to the county courthouse in Denver and filed a mechanic's lien.
Fiction book (1993) -
A contractor filed a mechanic's lien to secure payment for the repairs he completed on the house.
-
After completing the project, the builder placed a mechanic's lien on the property because he hadn't received his payment.
-
To ensure he would be paid for his services, the electrician submitted a mechanic's lien against the client's home.
Synonyms
30
9.4
A legal right to keep someone's property until they pay a debt
Surface Forms
Morphology
mechanic's + lien
The phrase is compositional: 'mechanic's' is a possessive marking ownership/agent and 'lien' is a legal right to retain property for debt, so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a legal claim held by a mechanic to secure payment. Although the term is domain-specific/legal register, the possessive + noun structure is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Mechanic's lien comes from an old idea: a mechanic meant a craftsman who worked on a house and lien meant a 'hold' on something. It pictures the worker keeping a 'hold' on the property until they are paid, so today it means a legal claim on a property to make sure the worker or supplier gets paid.