Third-person singular present tense: to gradually pay off a debt over time in regular installments, or to gradually reduce the value of an asset on financial statements.
From 'amortize,' which comes from Old French 'amortir' (to deaden or kill), from Latin 'ad-' (to) and 'mors' (death). Ironically, this 'death' originally referred to making a debt 'dead' by fully paying it.
The word 'amortize' comes from the Latin word for 'death'—because paying off a mortgage is literally 'killing' the debt little by little, making medieval bankers' dark humor about slowly executing your financial obligations!
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