Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To liquidate (a debt, such as a mortgage) by installment payments or payment into a sinking fund.
  • transitive verb To write off an expenditure for (an asset, especially an intangible one, such as a patent) by prorating over a certain period, usually the expected duration of the asset's benefit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • . To make dead; deaden; destroy.
  • In law, to alienate in mortmain, that is, to convey to a corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, and their successors. See mortmain.
  • To extinguish, as a debt, by means of a sinking-fund.
  • To droop; hang as dead.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To make as if dead; to destroy.
  • transitive verb (Law) To alienate in mortmain, that is, to convey to a corporation. See Mortmain.
  • transitive verb To clear off or extinguish, as a debt, usually by means of a sinking fund.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To alienate (property) in mortmain.
  • verb transitive To wipe out (a debt, liability etc.) gradually or in installments.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb liquidate gradually

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English amortisen, to alienate in mortmain, from Old French amortir, amortiss-, from Vulgar Latin *admortīre, to deaden : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin mors, mort-, death; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From (the stem of) Middle French amortir ("to bring to death"), probably from Late Latin *admortīre, from Latin ad + mortem.

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Examples

  • Her training group was being pressured to "leverage" or, in English, amortize the investment in the videoconference system.

    It's the method, not the medium Clive Shepherd 2008

  • The trouble for the Hyatt's owner, Rockwood Capital LLC, is that last December the hotel's mortgage started to amortize, meaning the hotel had to start paying not only interest but also a portion of the loan's principal.

    Feuding Parties, Fighting No More 2010

  • The pilot process is a monstrous waste of time and money, stunningly inefficient an you say "amortize" kids?

    Re-Arranging the Deck Chairs Rogers 2007

  • The pilot process is a monstrous waste of time and money, stunningly inefficient an you say "amortize" kids?

    Archive 2007-11-18 Rogers 2007

  • The pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing, even though it can be more expensive in many instances, when you really kind of amortize the cost over many years, is something that's attractive to at least United States IT.

    BriefingsDirect Transcripts Carlton Vogt 2010

  • The pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing, even though it can be more expensive in many instances, when you really kind of amortize the cost over many years, is something that's attractive to at least United States IT.

    Independent Information Technology and business analysis from IT-Analysis.com Dana Gardner 2010

  • That's also true of his plan to "amortize" sharply increased pension costs over a 10-year period - which will reduce a 52% annual increase in pension contributions to a still-whopping 33% increase.

    NY Post: News By LISE BANG-JENSEN 2010

  • The pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing, even though it can be more expensive in many instances, when you really kind of amortize the cost over many years, is something that's attractive to at least United States IT.

    E-Commerce Times Dana Gardner 2010

  • The pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing, even though it can be more expensive in many instances, when you really kind of amortize the cost over many years, is something that's attractive to at least United States IT.

    ZDNet News - News Page One 2010

  • The appropriate response to this environment is for Congress to provide an additional two years over which these companies can amortize their 2007 and 2008 losses, with the first two years of this extended amortization period requiring only interest payments on the obligation.

    Sears Chairman Unleashes 15-Page Manifesto About Um, Everything - The Consumerist 2009

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