To gradually repay a debt through regular payments over a period of time, spreading interest across those payments.
From Old French amortir, derived from Latin ad- (to) + mors (death). The term originally meant 'to deaden' and evolved to mean 'to kill off a debt.'
Your mortgage has 'amort' built right into the name—'mort' means death, so you're literally taking out a 'death pledge' that you kill off with payments, which is the darkest etymology for something as normal as home loans.
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