Tier one of five
How to spell mortgage
What it means
a loan secured on property
How it sounds
/ˈmɔrɡədʒ/
Why it catches people out
Mort (death) + gage (pledge). The t is silent but retained from the root.
The spellings people reach for
- morgage
- mortgauge
- morgague
In a sentence
They refinanced the mortgage last spring.