2022-02-04 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D - deprecate & depreciate

Revision D

2022-02-04

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D - deprecate & depreciate

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น 

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

 

Dictionary.com:

ออกเสียง deprecate = “DEP-ri-keyt”  

ออกเสียง depreciate = “di-PREE-shee-yet”

 

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:

deprecate & depreciate

Deprecate means “to express disapproval of,” 

“to plead against,” 

“to protest.”

Depreciate means “be little,”

“to lower in value.”  

 

Because the two words look somewhat similar,

deprecate is sometimes carelessly used in the sense of “to belittle” 

(Jesse deprecated his contribution to the cause). 

“The teacher deprecated the laziness of his students.” 

“The property depreciated in value.”

 

Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary

deprecate & depreciate

To depreciate something is to actually make it worse, 

whereas to deprecate something is simply to speak

or think of it in a manner that demonstrates your low opinion of it.

 

Dictionary.com:

HISTORICAL USAGE OF DEPRECATE

An early and still common sense of 

deprecate is “to express disapproval of.” 

 

In technology and computing, 

deprecate is very commonly used to describe phasing out 

or abandoning out-of-date software.

 

In an evolution still occasionally criticized by a few, 

deprecate has come to be synonymous with 

the similar but etymologically unrelated word 

depreciate in the sense “belittle”: 

The author modestly deprecated the importance of his work. 

In compounds with self-, 

deprecate has almost totally replaced depreciate in modern usage: 

Her self-deprecating account of her career both amused and charmed the audience.

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Words We're Watching

A New Meaning of 'Deprecate'

Why do some people use deprecated to describe obsolescent technology?

AMMON SHEA

Update: This meaning was added in June 2018.

Deprecated is increasingly used as a technical term 

meaning "to recommend against using something

on the grounds that it is obsolete," or

"to declare some technological feature or function to be obsolescent." 

 

It's another example of technologists 

borrowing an existing word to describe something new, 

just as mouse was borrowed to describe the device that moves a cursor.

 

Yet the word deprecate has already shifted its meaning 

in ways which make some people uncomfortable

—and it's unclear whether the confusion surrounding this 

commonly confused word has contributed to its new technical usage.

 

The earliest meaning of deprecate was "to pray against, as an evil,"

and soon after this first meaning it took on the additional sense 

"to express disapproval of." 

 

Meanwhile, depreciate, the closely related word 

with which it is often confused, means "to lower in value."

 

Although deprecate retains its meaning of disapproval, 

it has also come to be employed in a fashion 

that is similar to a figurative sense of depreciate 

(more "to belittle" than "to lower in value"). 

 

This can be seen in its appearance in self-deprecating

—which originally was self-depreciating.

 

The fact that usage guides have spent a number of decades

explaining to people how they should not use deprecate 

appears to have had little influence on the 1980s computer users 

who first used the word to describe obsolescent technology:

 

These technologists used deprecated in a very specific fashion, 

and it is clear that 

it has a meaning for which there is no other suitable word. 

It is less clear, however, exactly 

why deprecate was chosen over some other existing word, 

or instead of creating a new one. 

 

One possibility is that they associated it with 

the "to lessen in worth" sense of depreciate.

 

Perhaps a clue to another possibility may be found in the writings 

of one of the word’s early adopters, Kevin Martin (quoted above). 

After using deprecate he attached a definition from 

The Random House College Dictionary, 

made note of that book’s fourth sense—

    (archaic) to pray for deliverance from

—and added “I often find the 4th definition appropriate :-)”

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Choose the Right Synonym for depreciate

Decry, Depreciate, Disparage, Belittle 

mean to express a low opinion of.

Decry implies open condemnation with intent to discredit.  

decried their defeatist attitude

Depreciate implies a representing as being of less value than commonly believed.  

critics depreciate his plays for being unabashedly sentimental

Disparage implies depreciation by indirect means such as slighting or invidious comparison.  

disparaged polo as a game for the rich

Belittle usually suggests a contemptuous or envious attitude.  

belittled the achievements of others

 

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:

dep′re·cat′ing·ly adv.

dep′re·ca′tion n.

dep′re·ca′tor n.

Usage Note: 

Deprecate originally meant 

"to pray in order to ward off something, ward off by prayer." 

 

Perhaps because the occasion of 

such prayers was invariably one of dread, 

the word developed the more general meaning of disapproval, 

as in this quotation from Frederick Douglass: 

"Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground." 

 

From here it was a small step to add 

the meaning "to make little of, disparage," 

which was once the proper meaning of depreciate. 

 

This meaning of depreciate appears to have been overwhelmed 

by the word's use in the world of finances, 

where it means "to diminish (or cause to diminish) in price or value." 

 

In similar fashion, the "disparage" sense of deprecate 

may be driving out the word's other uses.

 

In our 2002 survey, only 50 percent of the Usage Panel accepted deprecatewhen it meant 

"to express disapproval of" in the sentence

 He advocates a well-designed program of behavior modification 

and deprecates the early use of medication 

to address behavioral problems. 

 

Moreover, a similar example in the same survey 

elicited the same split in opinion among Panelists: 

He acknowledged that some students had been wronged by 

the board's handling of the matter 

and deprecated the board's decision to intervene. 

 

It seems clear, then, that the Panel has very mixed feelings 

about the use of deprecate to mean "disapprove of." 

 

But a great majority of Panelists accept deprecate 

when used to mean "make little of, disparage." 

 

Fully 78 percent accepted the example 

He deprecated his own contribution to the success of the project, 

claiming that others had done just as much. 

 

It may be that the widespread use of the word 

in the compound adjective 

self-deprecating has helped bolster this use of the verb.