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

And Musk’s 2018 pay award was valued at about $56 billion, or $8 billion a year, if investors amortize it over seven years.

From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025

“Seventy-thousand dollars — you amortize it over 10 to 15 years, whatever the dog’s life is, and it’s not that big of a price tag.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023

"They can run their profit center with combustion engines longer and amortize their investment there," he said.

From Reuters • Jun. 30, 2022

“One SoulCycle class is $36 or something like that. And your monthly at Peloton is $40. So the bike can amortize out pretty quickly.”

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2021

This weakened their balance sheets considerably and the government reneged on its promises to allow them to amortize the goodwill element of the purchase over 40 years.

From Crime and Corruption by Vaknin, Samuel