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/ˈmɔːt.meɪn/ · noun
(law) The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church..
Though in truth it was the law of mortmain […] which originally sent the founders of chantries to seek the king's licence […]
[…]; and some part of that influence [of the government], which would otherwise have been possessed as in a sort of mortmain and unalienable domain, returned again to the great ocean from whence it arose, […]
Use mortmain when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Mortmain means (law) The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church..
Common synonyms include dead hand of the past, dead hand.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Though in truth it was the law of mortmain […] which originally sent the founders of chantries to seek the king's licence […]
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