Appreciating

How to spell appreciating

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce appreciating

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does appreciating mean?

1. verbRecognising the worth of something or feeling grateful for it.
2. verbIncreasing in monetary value over a period of time.

Appreciating in a sentence

• The whole team is appreciating your help with the late deadline.

• The house has been steadily appreciating since they bought it five years ago.

• After the long week, she found herself appreciating a quiet evening at home.

• With the dollar appreciating against the euro, imports became cheaper.

Where does appreciating come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word goes back to the Late Latin verb appretiare, meaning 'to set a price on' or 'to appraise', which was built from ad- ('to') and pretium ('price' or 'value'). The very same pretium sits inside the English words 'price', 'precious', and 'prize', all of which carry the idea of something worth money. English took the verb in through Old French apprecier in the fifteenth century, at first with the plain accountant's sense of putting a value on something. Over the following centuries the meaning warmed up: from coldly pricing a thing it came to mean valuing it highly, then being grateful for it, and finally (in finance) rising in worth over time. The tricky double 'p' comes straight from the Latin ad- assimilating before the 'p' of pretium, and the soft 'ci' spelling preserves that old pretium root, which is exactly why the middle of the word trips writers who expect a single 'p' or an 's'.

How the word is built

• ap- (to, from Latin ad-)
• preti (price, value, from pretium)
• -ate (verb suffix)
• -ing (present participle)