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Webster 1913 Edition
Amortize
A-mor′tize
,Verb.
T.
[OE.
. amortisen
, LL. amortisare
, admortizare
, F. amortir
to sell in mortmain, to extinguish; L. ad
+ mors
death. See Mortmain
]1.
To make as if dead; to destroy.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
3.
To clear off or extinguish, as a debt, usually by means of a sinking fund.
Webster 1828 Edition
Amortize
AMORT'IZE
,Verb.
T.
In English law, to alienate in mortmain, that is, to sell to a corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, and their successors. This was considered as selling to dead hands. This cannot be done without the kings license. [See Mortmain.]