depreciate
$ \mathrm{depreciate} /dɪˈpriːʃieɪt/
verb (depreciates, depreciated, depreciating)
1 ​intransitive to become less valuable over a period of time
New cars start to depreciate as soon as they are on the road.
Shares continued to depreciate on the stock markets today.
OPPOSITE appreciate
2 ​transitive depreciate something (business) to reduce the value, as stated in the company’s accounts, of a particular asset over a particular period of time
The bank depreciates laptops over a period of five years.
TOPICS Money C2
3 ​transitive depreciate something (formal) to make something seem unimportant or of no value
I had no intention of depreciating your contribution.
Word Origin
late Middle English (in sense (2)): from late Latin depreciat- ‘lowered in price, undervalued’, from the verb depreciare, from Latin de- ‘down’ + pretium ‘price’.