What does deprecate mean?
To deprecate something is to voice firm disapproval of it — to condemn, deplore, or argue against a practice, proposal, or course of action. The word carries a formal, weighty tone: one might say a committee deprecated the use of misleading statistics, meaning it publicly objected to the practice. In the world of software and technology, 'deprecate' has taken on a second, highly specific life: a deprecated feature is one that still works but is officially discouraged, usually because it will eventually be removed. Programmers encounter deprecation notices constantly, making this perhaps the word's most frequent modern context. A related and much-loved derivative is 'self-deprecating', describing someone who makes modest, unflattering jokes at their own expense. The word comes from the Latin deprecari, meaning to pray against or ward off, sharing roots with 'pray', 'precarious', and 'imprecate'. Distinguish it from 'depreciate', which refers to a loss of value rather than an expression of disapproval, though the two words share an ancestor and were once confused even by careful writers.
To express disapproval of something; to deplore or censure.
"Critics deprecated the film for its gratuitous violence."
Formal register.
(Computing) To mark a feature or practice as discouraged or obsolete, typically pending removal in a future version.
"The API documentation deprecates direct database access."
Standard technical usage in software engineering.
In software, calling something 'deprecated' is a polite way of saying it's living on borrowed time.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deprecate
Deprecate derives from the Latin verb deprecari, formed from de- ('away') and precari ('to pray, entreat'), originally meaning to pray against something or seek to avert it by prayer. It entered English in the early 17th century, initially retaining this sense of praying for deliverance from an evil before shifting toward expressing disapproval. Because of its shared origin with depretiare/depreciari, it was long confused with 'depreciate' (to lessen in value), a mixing that careful usage guides have discouraged for well over a century. Its Latin root precari also underlies 'pray', 'precarious', 'imprecation', and 'deprecation'.
Related word forms
How deprecate is actually used
Formal register in general usage; the technical computing sense is standard vocabulary among programmers. The adjective form appears almost exclusively in 'self-deprecating', describing humorous modesty about oneself. In older British usage, 'deprecate' occasionally meant 'to pray against' or 'to ward off by prayer', but this sense is now archaic.
Easily confused with deprecate
'Depreciate' means to decline in value, while 'deprecate' means to express disapproval — though both derive from the Latin verb precari and were historically used interchangeably.