“Hypotheca” was a term of the Roman law, and denoted a pledge or mortgage. As distinguished from the term “pignus" in the same law, it denoted a mortgage, whether of lands or of goods, in whlch the subject in pledge remained in the pos-sesslon of the mortgagor or debtor; whereas In the pignus the mortgagee or creditor was in tbe possession. Such an hypotheca might be either express or implied; express, where the parties upon the occasion of a loan en-tered into express agreement to that effect; or implied, as, e. g., in the case of the stock and utensils of a farmer, which were subject to the landlord’s right as a creditor for rent; wheuce the Scotch law of hypothec
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
