depreciate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to reduce the purchasing value of (money).
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to lessen the value or price of.
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to claim depreciation on (a property) for tax purposes.
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to represent as of little value or merit; belittle.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to reduce or decline in value or price
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(tr) to lessen the value of by derision, criticism, etc; disparage
Commonly Confused
See deprecate
Other Word Forms
- depreciatingly adverb
- depreciator noun
- depreciatory adjective
- nondepreciating adjective
- predepreciate verb
- redepreciate verb
- undepreciated adjective
- underdepreciate verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of depreciate
First recorded in 1640–50; from Late Latin dēpretiātus “undervalued” (past participle of dēpretiāre; in Medieval Latin spelling dēpreciāre ), equivalent to Latin dē- “away from, out of” + preti(um) “price” + -ātus past participle suffix; de-, price, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The accounting method a taxpayer uses when they put equipment into service and then depreciate the asset is much less emotional, but keeping it consistent is equally important.
From MarketWatch
The yen could depreciate further if the rise in oil prices forces global central banks like the Fed and the European Central Bank to shift toward additional tightening.
Perhaps the disappearance of history’s icons from a depreciating currency isn’t a fatal blow to the canon of British culture.
Planned hardware replacement cycles have investments depreciating quicker than accounting rules allow.
And they buy their baby stuff secondhand, as these goods depreciate faster than clothing, cars and electronics, they note.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
