depreciate

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /dɪˈpriʃieɪt/ UK /dɪˈpriːʃieɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to diminish in value over time, or to belittle something

New cars depreciate sharply the moment they leave the lot.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to diminish in value over... devaluedecline depress belittle disparage diminish lessen

Opposites

appreciate value enhance increase

Word family

Derived forms depreciation depreciatorydepreciabledepreciated

Related forms price appreciate precious

Simplified etymology

Depreciate entered English in the mid-17th century and ultimately goes back to the same Latin source as price, a word meaning “price.”

Etymology

From Latin depreciatus, past participle of depretiare ('to lower the price of'), from de- ('down') plus pretium ('price, value').

depretiare Latin pretium Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# depreciate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈpriʃieɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈpriːʃieɪt/

## Meanings
1. to diminish in value over time, or to belittle something

## Examples
- New cars depreciate sharply the moment they leave the lot.

## Synonyms
- devalue
- decline
- depress
- belittle
- disparage
- diminish
- lessen

## Antonyms
- appreciate
- value
- enhance
- increase

## Derived Forms
- depreciation
- depreciatory
- depreciable
- depreciated

## Related Forms
- price
- appreciate
- precious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: depretiare
- Root: pretium

## Etymology
From Latin depreciatus, past participle of depretiare ('to lower the price of'), from de- ('down') plus pretium ('price, value').

## AI Etymology
Depreciate is from Latin depreciatus, past participle of depretiare ('to lower the price of'), from de- ('down') plus pretium ('price, value'). Important recorded forms include depretiare (Latin) and pretium (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to diminish in value over time, or to belittle something. The wider family includes derived forms such as depreciation, depreciatory, depreciable, and depreciated and related words such as price, appreciate, and precious.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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