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Glite Dictionary
🪨 Oppressive influence 🏰 Perpetual ownership
mortmain

mortmain

9.9
The permanent ownership of land by an organization like the church
  • noun
  • /ˈmɔrtˌmeɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : mortmain
  • She concluded with a survey of legislation influencing these endowments, showing how the 1736 Mortmain Act affected charitable provision.

Examples

  • Florida has a so-called Mortmain Statute, Mrs. Nuytten.

    Black Widow (1987)

  • Many churches benefit from the historical protections offered by mortmain laws.

  • The mortmain Statute prevents land from being sold by religious organizations.

  • The concept of mortmain ensures that properties owned by charities remain unchanged over time.

Synonyms

dead hand
vsmortmain
  • Archaic
9.9

Land owned by a church that cannot be sold or given away

is the formal historical legal term for that perpetual inalienable ownership

Surface Forms

mortmain singular
mortmains plural

Etymology

Mortmain comes from old French words mort 'dead' and main 'hand', which literally means 'dead hand'. In old law this named land held forever by the church or a group so it could not be sold or inherited, and that is why mortmain means permanent ownership that cannot be changed.