amortize

[ am-er-tahyz, uh-mawr-tahyz ]

verb (used with object),am·or·tized, am·or·tiz·ing.
  1. Finance.

    • to liquidate or extinguish (a mortgage, debt, or other obligation), especially by periodic payments to the creditor or to a sinking fund.

    • to write off a cost of (an asset) gradually.

  2. Old English Law. to convey to a corporation or church group; alienate in mortmain.

Origin of amortize

1
1375–1425; Middle English amortisen<Anglo-French, Old French amortiss-, long stem of amortir literally, to kill, die <Vulgar Latin *a(d)mortīre (derivative of Latin mors, stem mort- death, with ad-ad-); -ize later replacing -is(s)-, probably by association with Anglo-Latin a(d)mortizāre
  • Also especially British, am·or·tise .

Other words from amortize

  • am·or·tiz·a·ble, adjective
  • non·am·or·tiz·a·ble, adjective
  • un·am·or·tized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for amortize

amortize

amortise

/ (əˈmɔːtaɪz) /


verb(tr)
  1. finance to liquidate (a debt, mortgage, etc) by instalment payments or by periodic transfers to a sinking fund

  2. to write off (a wasting asset) by annual transfers to a sinking fund

  1. property law (formerly) to transfer (lands, etc) in mortmain

Origin of amortize

1
C14: from Medieval Latin admortizāre, from Old French amortir to reduce to the point of death, ultimately from Latin ad to + mors death

Derived forms of amortize

  • amortizable or amortisable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012