- 1[intransitive] to become less valuable over a period of time New cars start to depreciate as soon as they are on the road. Shares continued to depreciate on the stock markets today. opposite appreciate
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- 2[transitive] depreciate something (business) to reduce the value, as stated in the company's accounts, of a particular asset over a particular period of time The bank depreciates PCs over a period of five years.
- 3[transitive] depreciate something (formal) to make something seem unimportant or of no value I had no intention of depreciating your contribution.
depreciate
verbNAmE//dɪˈpriʃiˌeɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they depreciate he / she / it depreciates
past simple depreciated
-ing form depreciating
NAmE//dɪˌpriʃiˈeɪʃn//
noun [uncountable] currency depreciation the depreciation of fixed assetsSee depreciate in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: depreciate