Mortmain is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of
real estate by a
corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church; today, insofar as mortmain prohibitions against perpetual ownership still exist, it refers most often to modern
companies and
charitable trusts. The term "mortmain" is derived from
Mediaeval Latin mortua manus, literally "dead hand", through
Old French morte main.