Amortization in EBITDA refers to the gradual discounting of the book value of a companys intangible assets. Intangible assets are non-physical assets, such as patents or copyrights, and amortization is the process of expensing these assets over their useful life. By stripping out the non-cash depreciation and amortization expense as well as taxes and debt costs dependent on the capital structure, EBITDA attempts to represent cash profit generated by the company’s operations. It is a measure of a company’s core profitability after stripping out factors that aren’t in the company’s control or that may distort earnings.