Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mortmain"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mortmain \Mort"main`\, n. [F. mort, morte, dead + main hand; F.
main-morte. See {Mortal}, and {Manual}.] (Law)
Possession of lands or tenements in, or conveyance to, dead
hands, or hands that cannot alienate.
Note: The term was originally applied to conveyance of land
made to ecclesiastical bodies; afterward to conveyance
made to any corporate body. --Burrill.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mortmain
n 1: real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical
corporation) [syn: {dead hand}]
2: the oppressive influence of past events of decisions [syn: {dead
hand}, {dead hand of the past}]
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