depreciate Hear it!

depreciate definition

de·pre·ci·ate (dē prē′s̸hē āt′, di-)

transitive verb depreciated -·at′ed, depreciating -·at′·ing

  1. to reduce in value or price
  2. to make seem less important; belittle; disparage

Etymology: ME depreciaten < LL depretiatus, pp. of depretiare, to lower the price of (in LL(Ec), to make light of) < L de-, from + pretiare, to value < pretium, price

intransitive verb

to drop in value or price

Related Forms:

  • depreciator de·pre′·cia′·tor noun
  • depreciatory de·pre′·cia·to′ry (-s̸hē ə tôr′ē, -s̸hə tôr′ē -) adjective or depreciative de·pre′·ci·a′tive (-s̸hē āt′iv, -s̸hə tiv)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.