Hypothecate

Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Hypothecate \hahy-POTH-i-keyt, hi-\, verb:

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.

Then you hypothecate your stock in company number one, and you had your dummy directors lend you more money, and you buy another trust company.
-- Upton Sinclair, The Moneychangers, 1920

He could buy certificates of city loan for the sinking-fund up to any reasonable amount, hypothecate them where he pleased, and draw his pay from the city without presenting a voucher.
-- Theodor Dreiser, The Financier, 1912

Hypothecate first entered English in the late 1600s, originally from the Greek roots hypo- and tithenai meaning "to put down."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com