amortir

Forms

amortir^[1] Old French also had the verb amorter.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French amortir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *admortiō (“to kill, to die”), formed from ad- and mors (“death”);^[4][5][6][1] the Vulgar Latin verb is inferred from its Romance counterparts.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF derive it from mortuus (“dead”) instead.^[7][8][9] The legal sense goes back to Medieval Latin admortō “to grant in mortmain”, recorded in a charter of 1261.^[4][5]

Cognate with Italian ammortire and Old Occitan amortir.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1190 in the Livre des Rois, used intransitively for “to die, to become as if dead”: E sis quers li amortid cume pierre “and his heart died within him like a stone”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages it meant both “to kill” and “to die”, and also “to make as if dead”, a sense still found in the 16th century.^[7][4] Figurative uses won out: “to deaden” the heart or feelings (late 13th century), and in customary law “to grant in mortmain” (1277), which in the 15th century was also applied to giving away one's goods in return for being kept for life.^[4][5] In 16th-century architecture admortir meant to finish a work, and then to crown it with an ornament, a sense now lost.^[4][5]

The two main modern senses appear in the second half of the 17th century: “to deaden the force of” a blow or fall (before 1680, La Rochefoucauld), whence of noise in the 19th century, and in finance “to extinguish” a rent or debt (1680, Richelet), developed from the legal sense.^[4][5] In the mid-19th century the financial sense extended to recovering the capital spent on something through the profit it brings.^[5] In cooking, Littré records it for taking the sharpness out of herbs and making meat tender.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – First record, in the Livre des Rois, meaning “to die”.^[4]
• 1263 – The derivative amortissement is recorded.^[7]
• 1277 – Used in customary law for “to grant in mortmain”.^[4][5]
• Late 13th century – Moult ot le cuer amorty in the Roman du Châtelain de Coucy.^[4]
• 1554 – Admortir “to finish (a building)” in architecture.^[4]
• Before 1680 – La Rochefoucauld uses it for deadening a blow.^[4][5]
• 1680 – Richelet records amortir une rente.^[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cushion, to lessen the force of (a blow, a fall, a shock).^[10][9]
2. To muffle (a sound), to soften (a colour or light).^[10][2]
3. (physics) To damp (an oscillation).^[10][9]
4. (sport) To deaden (a ball), to kill its bounce.^[9]
5. (finance) To pay off (a debt) gradually; to amortize, to recover the cost of an outlay through the profit it brings.^[1][5][2]
6. (figurative) To dull, to temper (passions, enthusiasm).^[2][5]
7. (cooking, dated) To take the sharpness out of (herbs), to make (meat) tender.^[2]

Word family

• amortissement
• amortissable

Related words

• mort¹
• Latin mors

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 173b
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert