Etymograph

English

amortize

Amortize comes from Old French amortir, from Vulgar Latin *admortīre ‘deaden, make numb’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mr̥yétor‘to die’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moriōr‘to die’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorior‘die’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortuus‘dead’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*admortīre‘deaden, make numb’reconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amortir
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amortisen‘to amortize’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2002amortize

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mr̥yétor‘to die’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moriōr‘to die’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmorior‘die’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortuus‘dead’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*admortīre‘deaden, make numb’reconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400amortir
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500amortisen‘to amortize’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2002amortize

Earliest quotation: 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: “extraordinary borrowing had been so extensive, Joly de Fleury…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

remember, march, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, marsh, maritime, mare, mara, mortality, muller, mortal, mortar, moor, morbid, marinate, morn, marinara, ambrosia, maar, mort, cormorant, 60 more

through Latin morior ‘die’

moribund, 5 more

through Latin mortuus ‘dead’

mortuary, 1 more

Today it means

verb To alienate (property) in mortmain.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / amortize

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