self-amortising
|self-a-mor-ti-sing|
🇺🇸
/ˌsɛlf.əˈmɔr.taɪ.zɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˌsɛlf.əˈmɔː.taɪ.zɪŋ/
(self-amortise)
pays itself off
Etymology
'self-amortising' is formed from the prefix 'self-' (Old English 'self', meaning 'oneself') combined with 'amortise'. 'Amortise' ultimately originates from Old French 'amortir', from Vulgar Latin '*admortire', where 'ad-' meant 'to' and the root related to 'mort-' meant 'death' or 'to die'.
'Amortire' in Vulgar Latin passed into Old French as 'amortir' (literally 'to deaden' or 'to extinguish'), then entered Middle English in senses such as 'to extinguish (a debt)'. Over time the term developed into the modern English 'amortise' (UK) and 'amortize' (US); adding the prefix 'self-' produced 'self-amortise' and the participial/adjectival 'self-amortising'.
Initially it meant 'to kill' or 'to deaden' (literal sense), but it evolved into the financial/legal sense 'to extinguish or write off (a debt)'; today 'self-amortising' carries the narrower meaning 'repaying its own cost over time'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Verb 1
present participle form of 'self-amortise' (to amortise something so that it repays its cost over time).
By improving efficiency, the company is self-amortising the cost of the upgrade through lower operating expenses.
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Adjective 1
describing something (often an investment, project, piece of equipment or system) whose initial cost is recovered over time from savings or income it generates; that effectively pays for itself.
The new solar-heating system is self-amortising because its energy savings will cover the installation cost within seven years.
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Last updated: 2025/11/06 00:25