A mortgage is a conveyance of land as a security for the payment of a debt or the discharge of some other obligation for which it is given, the security being redeemable on the payment or discharge of such debt or obligation (o).

(o) The definition given in 21 Halsbury, Laws of England, p. 70, adopted from the words of Lindley, M.R., in Santley v. Wilde, [1899] 2 Ch. 474, and approved by Lord Halsbury in Noakes & Co. v. Rice, [1902] A.C. 24, at p. 28, is copied in the text with the exception that it has been modified so as to exclude a mortgage of chattels or choses in action. The definition is not wide enough to cover all forms of equitable mortgages (chapter 5) or Welsh mortgages (Sec. 2).

A good statutory definition of wider scope is to be found in the Act respecting the Law and Transfer of Property, R.S.O. 1897, c. 119, s. 1, as follows:

"Mortgage" shall include every instrument by virtue whereof land is in any manner conveyed, assigned, pledged, or charged as security for the payment of money or money's worth, and to be re-conveyed, re-assigned or released on satisfaction of the debt (p).