1. Plural of bottomry; a maritime contract in which a ship or its cargo is pledged as security for a loan, with the lender assuming the risk of loss at sea.
Usage: nautical; legal; historical

Examples

• The merchant arranged several bottomries to finance his trading voyages across the Atlantic.
• In the age of sail, bottomries were common financial instruments for shipowners seeking capital.
• The insurance and bottomries markets developed together in maritime commerce.
• Bottomries allowed lenders to profit from high-risk sea voyages with correspondingly high interest rates.