amortize

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

/ ˈæm ərˌtaɪz, əˈmɔr taɪz /

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

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.

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

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Also especially British, am·or·tise .

Origin of amortize

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

OTHER WORDS FROM amortize

am·or·tiz·a·ble, adjectivenon·am·or·tiz·a·ble, adjectiveun·am·or·tized, adjective

Words nearby amortize

amor patriae, amorphism, amorphous, amort, amortization, amortize, amortizement, Amory, Amos, amosite, amount

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use amortize in a sentence

Through 2021, AD has been wading into worldwide launches, which help to raise site traffic and amortize content costs.
Architectural Digest will publish its first global print issue as part of revamped international rollout strategy|Sara Guaglione|November 30, 2021|Digiday
Nonetheless, team owners get to amortize, or write off, those assets, even as they actually rise in value.
Eight Takeaways From ProPublica’s Investigation of How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Taxes|by ProPublica|July 8, 2021|ProPublica
Since there is no functional limit on the number of void years a team can write into a contract, Julio’s 2021 cap hit could be amortized over as many years as needed.
Julio Jones Isn’t Running On Empty|Josh Hermsmeyer|June 2, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
For most of these startups, once you have a customer using one financial product, much like traditional banks, they want you to use all of their other products as well to maximize customer value and amortize those high CAC costs.
Gusto is expanding from payroll into a full suite financial wellness platform|Danny Crichton|September 30, 2020|TechCrunch

British Dictionary definitions for amortize

amortize

amortise

/ (əˈmɔːtaɪz) /

verb (tr)

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

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

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

Derived forms of amortize

amortizable or amortisable, adjective

Word Origin for amortize

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

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