"Deprecate" = to express disapproval of, or to mark as obsolete (in tech); "depreciate" = to lose economic value, or to belittle.
Verb: (1) to express disapproval or criticism of something. (2) In technology (now dominant modern use): to mark a function, method, or feature as obsolete and scheduled for removal. "This function is deprecated" = this function should no longer be used and will be removed soon.
The API endpoint has been deprecated and will be removed in version 3.0 — please migrate to the new endpoint.
The committee deprecated the practice of sharing confidential data through unencrypted email.
The old payment method was deprecated in favor of a more secure authentication flow.
Verb: (1) economic/financial: to decrease in value over time (cars depreciate, currencies depreciate). (2) formal: to belittle, minimize the importance of, undervalue. "Do not depreciate her contributions" = do not undervalue her contributions.
New cars typically depreciate by 20% in the first year after purchase.
Inflation causes the currency to depreciate, reducing purchasing power for ordinary people.
She worked hard not to depreciate the team's achievements, always crediting everyone involved.
Common mistake
The most frequent error in technical and business texts: "the value of the house has deprecated" (should be "depreciated"). And in code documentation: "this method is depreciated" (should be "deprecated"). In finance, always DEPRECIATE (value falls). In technology, always DEPRECATE (function declared obsolete). They are never interchangeable in those contexts.
Trick to remember it
DEPRECATE: think "declare obsolete" — you announce something is outdated (in tech) or express disapproval. DEPRECIATE: think "decrease in PRICE" — the price or value goes down. Memory hook: deprecIATE has I-A in the middle, like "I Am losing value." DeprecATE = you ATE away approval of something.
Quick rule
Deprecate = to disapprove of / to mark as obsolete (technology). Depreciate = to lose economic value / to belittle.
Did you know?
In classical English, "deprecate" meant "to pray against something happening" (from Latin "deprecari" = to pray against). Today its most common use is in software documentation, where a "deprecated" function is a warning that the developer must migrate their code before the function is removed. Google, Apple, and Microsoft use "deprecated" across millions of technical documentation pages.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The development team announced that the old login API would be _____ and replaced with OAuth 2.0 in the next release.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The exchange rate has caused the local currency to _____ significantly against the dollar over the past year.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Deprecate = to disapprove of / to mark as obsolete (technology). Depreciate = to lose economic value / to belittle.
The most frequent error in technical and business texts: "the value of the house has deprecated" (should be "depreciated"). And in code documentation: "this method is depreciated" (should be "deprecated"). In finance, always DEPRECIATE (value falls). In technology, always DEPRECATE (function declared obsolete). They are never interchangeable in those contexts.
DEPRECATE: think "declare obsolete" — you announce something is outdated (in tech) or express disapproval. DEPRECIATE: think "decrease in PRICE" — the price or value goes down. Memory hook: deprecIATE has I-A in the middle, like "I Am losing value." DeprecATE = you ATE away approval of something.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy