depreciate
/dɪˈpriːʃɪeɪt
/ /dɪˈpriːsɪeɪt/verb
1 [no object] Diminish in value over a period of time: the latest cars will depreciate heavily in the first year...
- The simple reason behind this change is that the US dollar and the euro are going to steeply depreciate against the value of gold.
- There are pockets where values have depreciated.
- Buying a cheaper car that depreciates rapidly is a false economy.
Synonyms
decrease in value, lose value, decline in price, drop in price, fall in price, cheapen, devalue
1.1 [with object] Reduce the recorded value in a company’s books of (an asset) each year over a predetermined period.Changes in accounting policies are another example of something to watch for - for example, a company might decide to depreciate assets over a longer period to save on the depreciation charge....
- Furthermore, since computers can be depreciated over a five-year period, the company is also permitted to record the expense using its regular depreciation method.
- Previously, equipment and business assets had to be depreciated over a five to seven year time span.
Synonyms
devalue, cheapen, reduce, lower in value, lower in price, mark down, cut, discount
informal slash
2 [with object] Disparage or belittle (something): she was already depreciating her own aesthetic taste...
- Ironically, many minorities also lead the efforts to abolish affirmative action under the belief that their educational achievements are depreciated, disparaged and seen as less valuable.
- Written in diary form it is a humorous, self depreciating honest account of a woman faced with the realities of a breast cancer diagnosis.
- They were different to the other bands, in that they had great catchy melodies and a nice line in self depreciating lyrics.
Synonyms
belittle, disparage, denigrate, decry, deprecate, make light of, treat lightly, discredit, underrate, undervalue, underestimate, deflate, detract from, diminish, minimize, trivialize, run down, traduce, defame;
disdain, ridicule, deride, sneer at, scoff at, mock, scorn, pour scorn on
informal knock, slam, pan, bad-mouth, sell short, put down, pooh-pooh, look down one's nose at, do down, do a hatchet job on, take to pieces, pull apart, pick holes in, drag through the mud, have a go at, hit out at
British informal rubbish, slate, slag off
dated cry down
archaic hold cheap
rare derogate, misprize, minify
Derivatives
depreciable
/ /dɪˈpriːsɪəb(ə)l / adjective ...- Because it is presumed to represent the value of depreciable assets, this goodwill number has to be depreciated.
- You take money from your retirement fund for a depreciable device which will have to be replaced in three years?
- This ratio was then used to form a range for depreciable lives no greater than 20% or no less than 10% of a benchmark life based on actual usage of the firm's assets.
depreciative
/ /dɪˈpriːsɪətɪv / adjective ...- I do not intend these critical remarks to be in any way depreciative of his efforts to shed light on the evolution of ciliary bands in the Spiralia.
- Of potential value to modern readers, for instance, are his misgivings, expressed for the most part in shorter essays, about democratic government and his mildly depreciative view of the United States.
- Their artistry - I'm tempted to call it craftsmanship, but I'm afraid that would seem depreciative - is borne out of their love of the art.
depreciatively
- In his preface to these lectures Freud speaks a little depreciatively of the lack of novelty in their contents.
- The presence of the sequelae was regarded depreciatively by the patients and this attitude affected their self-regard as human beings.
- Once I handed a piece of paper and a pencil to a client who often referred depreciatively to his own nose and asked him to draw a silhouette of his face.
depreciatory
/ /dɪˈpriːsɪət(ə)ri / adjective ...- It is common now for these views to be dismissed with de haut en bas gestures of depreciatory scorn.
- To reflect these depreciatory factors it was appropriate to discount the valuation of the claimants' shareholdings after implementation of the transaction by 80% to 90%.
- In the study, he insists that ‘… the Negro woman during slavery began to develop a depreciatory concept of herself, not only as a female but as a human being as well’.
Origin
Late Middle English (in sense 2): from late Latin depreciat- 'lowered in price, undervalued', from the verb depreciare, from Latin de- 'down' + pretium 'price'.
price from Middle English:
The medieval word pris, which was from Old French, meant not only ‘price’ but also ‘prize’ and ‘praise’. Over time these three meanings split into three different words. Pris became price, and the meaning ‘praise’ started to be spelled preise and then praise. Originally simply an alternative way of spelling price, prize too became a separate word. The Latin original of the French was pretiem ‘price’ which also lies behind appreciate (mid 18th century), and the related appraise (mid 16th century) and apprize (mid 16th century), all with the basic sense of ‘set a price to’; depreciate (mid 17th century); and precious (Middle English).