English
mortmain
Mortmain comes from Old French mortes meins, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortes meins
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400mortmayn
- Englishearliest quotation 1770mortmain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortes meins
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400mortmayn
- Englishearliest quotation 1770mortmain
Earliest quotation: 1770, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Present Discontents: “[…]; and some part of that influence [of the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
remember, march, murder, marine, mere, nightmare, maritime, marsh, mortality, mare, muller, mortal, mara, mortar, moor, morbid, ambrosia, morn, mortuary, marinate, moribund, maar, marinara, cormorant, mortification, mortician, mortier, 58 more
Today it means
noun The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / mortmain