first mortgage

American  

noun

1. a mortgage having priority over other mortgages on property.

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first mortgage British  

noun

1. a mortgage that has priority over other mortgages on the same property, except for taxation and other statutory liabilities

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Other Word Forms

• first-mortgage adjective

Etymology

Origin of first mortgage

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

People with first mortgages had vast amounts of equity locked up in their houses; why shouldn’t this untapped equity, too, be securitized?

From Literature

We were lucky enough to close on our first mortgage with a 2.75% interest rate.

From Salon

Hundreds of thousands of potential first-time buyers also hope to get a place of their own with their first mortgage.

From BBC

Hundreds of thousands of potential first-time buyers have been hoping to get a place of their own with their first mortgage.

From BBC

They’re treated as second mortgages, but require no payments of any kind until the home is refinanced, resold or its first mortgage paid off, at which point the state loan must be repaid in full.

From Los Angeles Times