- 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
- (formerly) to transfer (lands, etc) in mortmain
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2017
am•or•tize /ˈæmɚˌtaɪz, əˈmɔrtaɪz/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -tized, -tiz•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2017- Businessto complete the payment of (a debt) by periodic payments to the creditor:amortized the loan.
- to write off the cost of (an asset) gradually:to amortize an expense over five years.
am•or•tize
(am′ər tīz′, ə môr′tīz),USA pronunciation v.t., -tized, -tiz•ing.
- [Finance.]
- to liquidate or extinguish (a mortgage, debt, or other obligation), esp. by periodic payments to the creditor or to a sinking fund.
- to write off a cost of (an asset) gradually.
- [Old Eng. Law.]to convey to a corporation or church group* alienate in mortmain.
- 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
- Anglo-French, Old French amortiss-, long stem of amortir literally, to kill, die
- Middle English amortisen 1375–1425
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
amortize, amortise /əˈmɔːtaɪz/ vb (transitive)
'amortize' also found in these entries: