| 释义 |
depreciation|dɪˌpriːʃɪˈeɪʃən|
[n. of action from depreciate v.: so mod.F. dépréciation (1784 in Hatzf.).]
The action of depreciating.
1. a. Lowering of value; fall in the exchangeable value (of money).
1767Franklin Wks. (1887) IV. 90 A depreciation of the currency. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 323 The depreciation continued..until seventy, and even one hundred and fifty nominal paper dollars, were hardly an equivalent for one Spanish milled dollar. 1829I. Taylor Enthus. ix. 225 A great depreciation of the standard of morals among the people. 1879H. Fawcett in 19th Cent. Feb. 200 Within the last few years there has been a most serious depreciation in the value of silver when compared with gold.
b. A fall in the market value of an (esp. durable) asset, brought about by age, wear and tear, etc.; a conventional allowance made for this in balance sheets, etc. Also attrib.
1900Pitman's Business Terms & Phrases iv. 64 Depreciation..is an annual allowance made in a balance sheet for the reduction in value, owing to wear and tear, of machinery and other tools, fixtures, and furniture, buildings, and other commercial plant. 1910L. C. Cropper Book-Keeping xvii. 310 The term ‘Depreciation’ includes Wear and Tear..but it covers a much wider field, embracing..the wastage caused by any fall in market values. 1930Economist 25 Jan. 163/2 Ten or twelve modern plants would give an equal productive capacity and reduce operative costs far beyond the charges necessary for the new capital and depreciation allowances. 1934U.S. Supreme Courts Reports 292 U.S. §151 Broadly speaking, the term depreciation, as applied to the property of a public utility company, means the loss, not restored by current maintenance, which is due to all the factors causing the ultimate retirement of the property; these factors include wear and tear, decay, inadequacy and obsolescence. 1953J. L. Hanson Textbk. Econ. ii. iv. 66 Depreciation of capital takes two forms: the wearing out of machinery, etc., and the using up of stocks. 1968G. M. Whitehead Book-Keeping made Simple vi. 99 Depreciation is a reduction in the book value of an asset due to fair wear and tear. 1984Hitching & Stone Understanding Accounting! iii. 18 The usual way would be to charge an equal portion to each year, so that, in the case of Andrew's car, the annual cost of depreciation would be (4,000/5 = ) {pstlg}800.
2. Lowering in estimation; disparagement.
1790Bp. T. Burgess Serm. Divin. Christ, Note iii, Dangerous..to form comparisons..where the preference of one tends to the depreciation of the other. 1831Lamb Elia, Ellistoniana, Resentment of depreciations done to his more lofty intellectual pretensions. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxxxvi, She never said a word in depreciation of Dorothea. |