amortize
Meaning
to gradually pay off a debt, such as a mortgage or loan, by making regular payments.
to gradually write off the initial cost of an intangible asset over a period of time in accounting.
Structure
Usage
the business plan allowed them to amortize the loan over ten years.
the company will amortize the patent's development costs over its legal life.
they decided to amortize the mortgage with equal monthly payments.
Etymology
the word 'amortize' originates from the old french 'amortir', meaning 'to kill' or 'to extinguish', which itself derives from the latin phrase 'ad mortem', literally 'to death'. the latin root 'mort-' is from 'mors', meaning 'death', with a proto-indo-european ancestor 'mer-', meaning 'to die'. the financial sense evolved through medieval latin 'amortizare', reflecting the concept of 'killing' or 'gradually extinguishing' a debt over time until it is dead. the suffix '-ize' was later added in english to standardize it as a verb, solidifying its meaning of systematically reducing a liability or asset value to zero.
Analysis
- a- (latin, prefix): a variant of 'ad-', meaning 'to' or 'towards'. - mort (latin, root): from 'mors' (genitive 'mortis'), meaning 'death'. - ize (greek via latin and french, suffix): a verb-forming suffix meaning 'to make' or 'to become'.