In French law. Hypothecation; a mortgage on real property; the right vested in a creditor by the assignment to him of real estate as security for the payment of his debt whether or not it be accompanied by possession. See Civ. Code La. art 3360.
It corresponds to the mortgage of real property in English law, and is a real charge, following the property intd whosesoever hands it comes. It may be legale, as in the case of the charge which the state has over the lands of its accountants, or which a married woman has over those of her husband; judiciaire, when it is the result of a judgment of a court of justice; and conventioneUe, when it is the result of an agreement of the parties. Brown.