# amortize

> English word · Verb · IPA /əˈmɔːtaɪz/

## Definitions
1. To alienate (property) in mortmain.
2. To wipe out (a debt, liability etc.) gradually or in installments.
3. To even out the costs of running an algorithm over many iterations, so that high-cost iterations are much less frequent than low-cost iterations, which lowers the average running time.

## Etymology
From Middle English amortisen, from Old French amortir (via the stem amortiss-), from Vulgar Latin *admortīre, derived from Latin mortuus (“dead”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/amortize