amortize

American  

[am-er-tahyz, uh-mawr-tahyz] / ˈæm ərˌtaɪz, əˈmɔr taɪz /

especially British, amortise

verb (used with object)

amortized, amortizing

1. Finance.

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

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

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

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amortize British  

/ əˈmɔːtaɪz /

verb

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

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

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Other Word Forms

• amortizable adjective
• nonamortizable adjective
• unamortized adjective

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

They say we need massive amounts of energy, we need huge amounts of data, we need the smartest kids around, and then we need the scale to amortize the massive investment that we are making.

From The Wall Street Journal

Netflix, Warner, and Paramount amortized around $40 billion worth of content in the past 12 months, much of it on flops.

From Barron's

As NetEase’s deferred revenue is amortized over the estimated average playing period, a longer recognition cycle indicates users are spending more time in NetEase’s newer titles, showing stronger engagement and retention, Su says.

From The Wall Street Journal

The aim is to reduce monthly payments by amortizing the loan over a longer period.

From The Wall Street Journal

“When amortized across the generations this number becomes vanishingly small,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal