# appreciate
## English
### Alternative forms

* appretiate (archaic)

### Etymology

Originated 1645–55; from Medieval Latin appreciātus (“valued or appraised”), later variant of Late Latin appretiātus (“appraised”), the perfect passive participle of appretiō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from a(d) (“toward”) +‎ preti(um) (“price”) +‎ -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix).
Cognate to French apprécier. Latin root also origin of English appraise, which has various Romance cognates; see also precious.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /əˈpɹiː.ʃi.eɪt/, /əˈpɹiː.si.eɪt/, /əˈpɹɪʃ.i.eɪt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: ap‧pre‧ci‧ate

### Verb

appreciate (third-person singular simple present appreciates, present participle appreciating, simple past and past participle appreciated)
* (transitive) To be grateful or thankful for.
    Synonyms: esteem, acknowledge
    I appreciate your efforts.
    We sincerely appreciate your help.
    Any aid will be warmly appreciated.
* (transitive) To view as valuable.
    Synonym: esteem
    You must learn to appreciate time.
* (transitive) To be fully conscious of; understand; be aware of; detect.
    Near-synonyms: realize, grasp, acknowledge
    It is essential for the reader to appreciate how important this argument is.
    I appreciate that what I'm asking you to do is very difficult.
** 1879, John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, PC, DL, FRS, FRAI, Everett Mendelsohn (Donor), “Lecture I. On Flowers and Insects.”, in Scientific Lectures‎, 2nd edition, Macmillan and Company, published 1890, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 12:In order then to test the power of bees to appreciate colour, I placed some honey on a slip of glass, and put the glass on coloured paper.
** 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:Eve: You learn to appreciate the light by living in the dark.
* (intransitive, transitive) To increase in value.
    Antonym: depreciate
    The value of his portfolio appreciated by 80% over eight years.
** 1809, David Ramsay, M. D., James Akin (Engraver), “IV. Fiscal history, 1670–1808.”, in The History of South-Carolina, from Its First Settlement in 1670, to the Year 1808. In Two Volumes.‎, volume 2, Charleston, South Carolina: David Longworth, published 1809, →OCLC, page 173:The sanguine, flattering themselves with the delusive hopes of a speedy termination of the war, were often induced to sell lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money, in which case it was sup­po­sed they would lose the present opportunity of sell­ing to great advantage.
** 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 234:Laughter may be generally classed under three heads,—forced, silly, or vulgar; but hers is the most sweet, real, spirituelle sound possible—it so appreciates the wit, which it increases as it catches—it speaks of spirits so fresh, so youthful!

#### Usage notes

* This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

#### Alternative forms

* appretiate (archaic)
* 'preciate (pronunciation spelling)

#### Derived terms

* appreciatable
* appreciater
* appreciator
* apprecihate
* disappreciate
* misappreciate
* much appreciated
* reappreciate
* underappreciate

#### Related terms

* appraise
* appreciation
* appreciative
* precious

#### References

* “appreciate”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
* “appreciate”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
* "appreciate" in the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), K Dictionaries limited, 2000-2006.
* “appreciate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* "appreciate" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.