Webster's 1828 Dictionary
AMORTIZATION, AMORTIZEMENT
n.The act or right of alienating lands or tenements to a corporation, which was considered formerly as transferring them to dead hands, as such alienations were mostly made to religious houses for superstitious uses.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
AMORTIZATION
A *mor `ti *za "tion, n. Etym: [LL. amortisatio, admortizatio. See Amortize, and cf. Admortization. ]
1. (Law )
Defn: The act or right of alienating lands to a corporation, which was considered formerly as transferring them to dead hands, or in mortmain.
2. The extinction of a debt, usually by means of a sinking fund; also, the money thus paid. Simmonds.
The Wordsmith Dictionary