A
mortise lock (
mortice lock in
British English) is a
lock that requires a pocket—the mortise—to be cut into the
door or piece of
furniture into which the lock is to be fitted. In most parts of the world, mortise locks are found on older
buildings constructed before the advent of
bored cylindrical locks, but they have recently become more common in commercial and upmarket residential construction in the United States. They are widely used in domestic properties of all ages in Europe.