The verb deprecate means to deplore, disparage, express disapproval of something. The verb depreciate means to drop in value or to lower in estimation or esteem. Both verbs can also mean belittle. (See usage notes below.)
Examples:
- "The Brits and the Yanks. It's a peculiar, elusive and deceptive relationship. . . . Our role is to ingratiate, self-deprecate, grovel and try to do cute. Yours is to toss us such occasional plaudits as you see fit."
(David Cox, "How to Lose Friends Is Living Proof the Brits Aren't Coming." The Guardian, Oct. 6, 2008) - Any new automobile bought in the fall will depreciate quickly because next year's model will soon replace it.
Usage Notes:
- "To depreciate means to drop in value. If you depreciate a business asset for income tax purposes, you deduct a portion of its original cost from your income over a period of several years. Depreciate also means to undervalue or speak disparagingly of. To deprecate means to censure or deplore. Self-deprecating and self-depreciating both mean self-belittling. Some commentators think that self-depreciating is the more apt term for this activity, but self-deprecating has far more currency in Canadian English. Either word is acceptable."
(Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine, Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 2007) - "From rather different origins, these similar-looking words have come to overlap in meaning in some contexts, especially when it comes to self-deprecation or self-depreciation.
"In essence depreciate means 'reduce in price or value.' This is the meaning it still expresses in the domain of business and finance, as when assets are depreciated by 10 percent. But the word can take on the more figurative meaning of 'represent as having little value, belittle,' and it then comes close to the extended meaning of deprecate. Deprecate is essentially 'argue against,' but by extension means 'disparage,' as in The movie star deprecated his acting talent.
"This is why deprecatory comments and depreciatory comments mean much the same, and compounds such as self-deprecatory/self-deprecating and self-depreciatory are indistinguishable. With the extra syllable, depreciate and its derivatives seem to be the losers in these close encounters. Depreciate nevertheless maintains its ground in the world of finance, which it never shares with deprecate."
(Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004)
Practice:
(a) Auction websites such as eBay allow us to sell game consoles and computers that _____ as soon as they are unpacked from the box.
(b) We should all _____ the use of violence to settle personal disputes.
