What does depreciate mean?
To depreciate is to lose value, especially over time — a word most often encountered in finance and economics. Currencies depreciate against stronger ones, machinery and vehicles depreciate with age and use, and accountants record this decline systematically so that businesses reflect their true net worth. A second, older sense survives in formal English: to depreciate something can mean to speak of it dismissively, to undervalue its merits, as when someone depreciates their own achievements out of modesty. The two senses are linked by a shared idea — treating something as worth less than before. The word derives from Latin depretiare, meaning to lower the price of, from pretium (price), making it a direct cousin of 'precious' and 'appraise'. Its opposite is 'appreciate', which likewise spans both rising value and heightened regard.
verbTo diminish in value over time, or to represent something as being of little worth or importance.
- To decrease in value or price over time (especially of currency, property, or assets).
- To belittle, disparage, or represent something as having little worth.
"The value of the currency depreciated sharply against the dollar."
"New cars typically begin to depreciate as soon as they leave the showroom."
"He tended to depreciate his own contributions to the project, though colleagues valued them highly."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of depreciate
Depreciate comes from Latin depretiatus, the past participle of depretiare, meaning to lower the price or value of something, formed from de- ('down') and pretium ('price'). It entered English in the early seventeenth century, initially carrying both its monetary sense and its sense of disparagement. The same Latin root pretium gives us 'precious', 'price', 'appraise', and 'praise' — all words concerned with worth.
Related word forms
How depreciate is actually used
In financial and accounting contexts, 'depreciate' carries a technical, neutral meaning: the systematic reduction of an asset's recorded value. In general usage it can carry a negative connotation when applied to self-criticism ('he depreciates his own work'). The reflexive sense is less common than the monetary one today.
Easily confused with depreciate
Depreciation is a loss of value; depredation means destructive plundering or attack.
Denigrate specifically means to criticize unfairly or defame, whereas depreciate can also mean a neutral decline in monetary worth.