The reduction of the value of an asset by prorating its cost over a period of years

Payment of an obligation in a series of installments or transfers

In accounting, amortization refers to expensing the acquisition cost minus the residual value of intangible assets in a systematic manner over their estimated "useful economic lives" so as to reflect their consumption, expiry, and obsolescence, or other decline in value as a result of use or the passage of time.

In computer science, amortized analysis is a method for analyzing a given algorithm's complexity, or how much of a resource, especially time or memory, it takes to execute.

In tax law, amortization refers to the cost recovery system for intangible property.

Nonconforming use in urban planning the use of land that was authorised at the time the use was created but is no longer allowed due to changes made to the zoning restrictions after that time.