English Dictionary: appreciate | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for appreciate | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Appreciate \Ap*pre"ci*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Appreciated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Appreciating}.] [L. appretiatus, p. p. of appretiare to value at a price, appraise; ad + pretiare to prize, pretium price. Cf. {Appraise}.] 1. To set a price or value on; to estimate justly; to value. To appreciate the motives of their enemies. --Gibbon. 3. To raise the value of; to increase the market price of; -- opposed to {depreciate}. [U.S.] Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money. --Ramsay. 4. To be sensible of; to distinguish. To test the power of bees to appreciate color. --Lubbock. Syn: To {Appreciate}, {Estimate}, {Esteem}. Usage: Estimate is an act of judgment; esteem is an act of valuing or prizing, and when applied to individuals, denotes a sentiment of moral approbation. See {Estimate}. Appreciate lies between the two. As compared with estimate, it supposes a union of sensibility with judgment, producing a nice and delicate perception. As compared with esteem, it denotes a valuation of things according to their appropriate and distinctive excellence, and not simply their moral worth. Thus, with reference to the former of these (delicate perception), an able writer says. [bd]Women have a truer appreciation of character than men;[b8] and another remarks, [bd]It is difficult to appreciate the true force and distinctive sense of terms which we are every day using.[b8] So, also, we speak of the difference between two things, as sometimes hardly appreciable. With reference to the latter of these (that of valuation as the result of a nice perception), we say, [bd]It requires a peculiar cast of character to appreciate the poetry of Wordsworth;[b8] [bd]He who has no delicacy himself, can not appreciate it in others;[b8] [bd]The thought of death is salutary, because it leads us to appreciate worldly things aright.[b8] Appreciate is much used in cases where something is in danger of being overlooked or undervalued; as when we speak of appreciating the difficulties of a subject, or the risk of an undertaking. So Lord Plunket, referring to an [bd]ominous silence[b8] which prevailed among the Irish peasantry, says, [bd]If you knew how to appreciate that silence, it is more formidable than the most clamorous opposition.[b8] In like manner, a person who asks some favor of another is apt to say, [bd]I trust you will appreciate my motives in this request.[b8] Here we have the key to a very frequent use of the word. It is hardly necessary to say that appreciate looks on the favorable side of things. we never speak of appreciating a man's faults, but his merits. This idea of regarding things favorably appears more fully in the word appreciative; as when we speak of an appreciative audience, or an appreciative review, meaning one that manifests a quick perception and a ready valuation of excellence. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Appreciate \Ap*pre"ci*ate\, v. i. To rise in value. [See note under {Rise}, v. i.] --J. Morse. |