depreciation

noun

Simple meaning

The measurement of the decline in value of assets.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihpreesheeayshuhn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪpɹiʃiˈeɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

The state of being depreciated; disparagement.
accounting
The measurement of the decline in value of assets. Not to be confused with impairment, which is the measurement of the unplanned, extraordinary decline in value of assets.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (accounting) The measurement of the decline in value of assets. Not to be confused with impairment, which is the measurement of the unplanned, extraordinary decline in value of assets.

Used this way, depreciation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a financial use: it has a settled meaning in accounting and business, where precision matters more than colour.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Specialist/technical
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Specialized
Connotation: Clinical and technical
Usage feel: Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

Finance/economics
Business/professional
Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use depreciation

“Depreciation of the dollar against the yen.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

depreciation ratedepreciation allowancedepreciation chargedepreciation expenseline depreciationannual depreciationdepreciation methodcurrency depreciation

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

depreciation allowancenounCompound term
An allowance for loss due to depreciation.
depreciation chargenounCompound term
An amount periodically charged to expense or against revenue in compensation for depreciation of property.
depreciation ratenounCompound term
The rate at which the value of property is reduced.
earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortizationnounCompound term
Income before interest and taxes and depreciation and amortization have been subtracted.
self-depreciationnounCompound term
A feeling of being of little worth.
straight-line method of depreciationnounCompound term
A method of calculating depreciation by taking an equal amount of the asset's cost as an expense for each year of the asset's useful life.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.