Emily Dickinson Lexicon

A-MORT'IZE, v.t. [Norm. amortizer, amortir; Sp. amortizar, to sell in mortmain; It. ammortire, to extinguish, from morte; L. mors, death. See Mortmain.]

In English law, to alienate in mortmain, that is, to sell to a corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, and their successors. This was considered as selling to dead hands. This cannot be done without the king's license. [See Mortmain.] – Blackstone. Cowel.