Appreciated

How to spell appreciated

11 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce appreciated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does appreciated mean?

1. verbRecognised the worth of something, or felt grateful for a kindness or favour.
2. verbIncreased in monetary value over a period of time.

Appreciated in a sentence

• The team appreciated the extra time she gave to the project.

• The house appreciated sharply in the years after they bought it.

• He always appreciated a quiet evening after a long week at work.

• Shares she held quietly appreciated while the market climbed.

Where does appreciated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb appretiare, which meant 'to set a price on' or 'to value', and was built from the prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and the noun pretium, meaning 'price' or 'worth'. The same pretium gives us 'price', 'precious', and 'prize', all of which still carry that core idea of something having value. Late Latin and then Old French passed the verb along, and English adopted 'appreciate' in the early 1600s, at first in the literal sense of estimating the monetary worth of something. From there the meaning broadened in two directions: to recognise the worth or quality of something, and so to be grateful for it, and (in finance) to rise in value over time. The doubled 'p' and the unexpected '-ci-' spelled with a 'c' both trace straight back to the Latin ad- + pretium origin, which is the surest way to remember why it is not spelled with an 's' or a single 'p'.

How the word is built

• ap- (from ad-: to, toward)
• preci- (from pretium: price, value)
• -ate (verb suffix)
• -ed (past tense / past participle)