Amortización and its English counterpart “amortization” (or “amortizing”) have at least three distinct meanings. The first may refer to gradually extinguishing a debt, such as a loan, by making periodic payments: amortización de un préstamo (“amortizing a loan;” “amortization of a loan”). In this sense, amortización may often be rendered simply as “repayment.” In the context of securities law, when referring to the repayment of a fixed-income security such as a treasury note or bond on or before its maturity date, the term used is “redemption.” Thus amortización de bonos denotes “redeeming bonds” or “bond redemption.

”Amortización has a different meaning in accounting contexts, describing the apportionment of the initial cost of an asset over the asset’s useful life. But US usage a distinction is generally made between intangible assets, which are amortized, and tangible assets, which are depreciated. Some Latin American jurisdictions follow the US model and use amortización for intangible assets (activos intangibles), while tangible assets are depreciated (depreciación de activos tangibles). In contrast, in Spain amortización generally denotes both amortization and depreciation, as in amortización de la patente (“amortization of the patent”) and amortización de la maquinaria (“depreciation of the machinery).”