first mortgage

American  

noun

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

---

first mortgage British  

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• first-mortgage
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of first mortgage

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

first mortgage

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

From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2024

But before they made their first mortgage payment, a massive landslide upended life on Peartree Lane, pulling eight neighbors’ homes down a nearby canyon and pushing others into different levels of structural purgatory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2023

It means a homeowner coming to the end of their fixed-rate mortgage deal and looking for a new one, or first-time buyers taking on their first mortgage, have seen such loans become much more expensive.

From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2023

Others believed their second loans were rolled in with their first mortgage payments or forgiven.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2022

A friend of mine in my Salomon Brothers training program created the first mortgage derivative in 1986, the year after we left the program.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis