hypothecate

¹ American  

[hahy-poth-i-keyt] / haɪˈpɒθ ɪˌkeɪt /

verb (used with object)

hypothecated, hypothecating

1. to pledge to a creditor as security without delivering over; mortgage.

2. to put in pledge by delivery, as stocks given as security for a loan.

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hypothecate ² American  

[hahy-poth-i-keyt, hi-] / haɪˈpɒθ ɪˌkeɪt, hɪ- /

verb (used with or without object)

hypothecated, hypothecating

1. an uncommon variant of hypothesize.

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hypothecate British  

/ haɪˈpɒθɪˌkeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) law to pledge (personal property or a ship) as security for a debt without transferring possession or title

2. to allocate the revenue raised by a tax for a specified purpose See also bottomry

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Other Word Forms

• hypothecater
  noun
• hypothecation
  noun
• hypothecator
  noun

Etymology

Origin of hypothecate¹

1675–85; < Medieval Latin hypothēcātus, past participle of hypothēcāre. See hypothec, -ate ¹

Origin of hypothecate²

First recorded in 1905–10; from Greek hypothḗk(ē) “suggestion, counsel” (from hypotithénai “to assume, suppose”; see hypo- ( def. ), thesis ( def. )) + -ate ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hypothecate hypothecated hypothecating

But previous attempts to "hypothecate" - or earmark - National Insurance contributions for specific public services have been abandoned.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2024

If they had no property real or personal to hypothecate, they could borrow on their personal credit only from usurers, who charged 20% and more interest.

From Time Magazine Archive

These bonds they dispose of or hypothecate to obtain loans on.

From Disputed Handwriting An exhaustive, valuable, and comprehensive work upon one of the most important subjects of to-day. With illustrations and expositions for the detection and study of forgery by handwriting of all kinds by Lavay, Jerome Buell

And then he pledged himself to hypothecate his entire fortune to the rescue of his worthless nephew.

From Carmen Ariza by Stocking, Charles Francis

"He is trying to hypothecate the lot or any part of it at one-fifty."

From The Titan by Dreiser, Theodore

He also called for a specific chunk of taxes raised to be "hypothecated" - earmarked - for the NHS, which he said was "in a state of profound crisis".

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2017

Others tout a hypothecated tax, perhaps giving national-insurance contributions to the NHS.

From Economist ● Nov. 19, 2015

In 1926 he was so hard-pressed for funds that he hypothecated the funds of his wife's trust fund for a firm loan, subsequently repaid it.

From Time Magazine Archive

"However, Mr. Eaton had failed to deliver $12,000,000 worth of the stocks sold because they were already hypothecated with banks for a $5,100,000 loan."

From Time Magazine Archive

"We are going to beat him; and, to show that I am prepared to back my convictions, I may say that I have already hypothecated every pennyworth of my English property."

From The Mistress of Bonaventure by Bindloss, Harold

The U. S. Department of Labor was considering the possibility of hypothecating its German-Austrian immigration quota for the next three years to admit up to 81,000 refugees into the country.

From Time Magazine Archive

It did not once occur to her that she could raise money by hypothecating the jewel at a pawn-shop: by hook or crook she was determined to regain her own money.

From Joan Thursday by Vance, Louis Joseph

Could he but have known that he was hypothecating the more valuable animal with but slight chance of redeeming it, the bargain would have been off on the instant.

From No Quarter! by Reid, Mayne

"It seems to have been a case," went on the detective unhurriedly, "of dropping down the scale for her until she was up against the question of diving into East River—or hypothecating the one asset."

From The Tyranny of Weakness by Stahr, Paul

Mr. Lincoln went into the reasons which appeared to him to render this plan preferable to that of hypothecating the State bonds.

From The Writings of Abraham Lincoln — Volume 1: 1832-1843 by Lincoln, Abraham