MORTMAIN

Mortmain

Mortmain is a legal term that refers to the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church; today, insofar as mortmain prohibitions against perpetual ownership still exist, it refers most often to modern companies and charitable trusts. The term "mortmain" is derived from Mediaeval Latin mortua manus, literally "dead hand", through Old French morte main.

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mortmain

Noun

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


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: mortmain
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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