Hy-pŏth'e-cāte, v. t.

[imp. & p. p. HYPOTHECATED; p. pr. & vb. n. HYPOTHECATING.] [L. Lat. hypothecare, hypothecatum, Fr. hypothéquer, from Lat. hypotheca, Gr. ὑποθήκη, support, base, pledge, security; from ὑποτίθεναι, to place or put under, especially as a basis or foundation, from ὑπό, under, and τιθέναι, to place.] (Law.) To confer on—said of one's creditor—a right in or to a thing, by which the creditor obtains the power to cause that thing to be sold for the discharge of a debt or engagement out of the proceeds; to subject, as property, to liability for a debt or engagement without delivery of possession or transfer of title; to pledge without delivery of possession; to mortgage, as ships, or other personal property; to make a contract by bottomry. See HYPOTHECATION, BOTTOMRY. Pothier. Ayliffe. Abbott.