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appreciate [appreciate 词源字典]: appreciate: [17] Like appraise, appreciate originally comes from the notion of setting a price on something. It comes from late Latin appretiāre, a compound verb formed from ad- ‘to’ and pretium ‘price’. The neutral sense of ‘estimating worth’ was already accompanied by the more positive ‘esteem highly’ when the word began to be used in English, and by the late 18th century the meaning ‘rise in value’ (apparently an American development) was well in place.
=> appraise, price[appreciate etymology, appreciate origin, 英语词源]
depreciate: depreciate: see price
precinct: precinct: [15] The notion underlying precinct is of ‘encirclement’ or ‘enclosure’. It comes from the past participle of Latin praecingere ‘gird about, surround’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before, around’ and cingere ‘encircle with a belt’ (source of English cincture [16]). From the underlying notion come the twin modern meanings of an ‘area enclosed by walls’ and a ‘delimited district within a city’ (mainly used in American English).
=> cincture
precious: precious: [13] Latin pretiōsus ‘expensive, valuable, precious’ was derived from pretium ‘price’ (source of English praise, price, and prize). English acquired it via Old French precios. The sense ‘affected’ was introduced from French in the early 18th century.
=> praise, price, prize
precipice: precipice: [16] The etymological notion underlying precipice is of falling ‘headlong’. It comes via French précipice from Latin praecipitium ‘headlong fall, steep place’. This was derived from praecipitāre ‘throw headlong’ (source of English precipitate [16] and precipitous [17]), a verb based on the adjective praeceps ‘headlong, steep’. This in turn was a compound formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front’ and caput ‘head’ (source of English capital, captain, etc).
=> capital, captain, chief
precise: precise: [16] Something that is precise is etymologically ‘cut off in front’. The word was acquired via French précis (subsequently borrowed as the noun précis ‘summary’ in the 18th century) from Latin praecīsus, an adjectival use of the past participle of praecīdere ‘shorten’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front’ and caedere ‘cut’ (source also of English concise, decide, excise, etc). The notion of being ‘shortened’ gradually slipped via ‘expressed shortly, leaving out extraneous matter’ to ‘exact’.
=> concise, decide, excise, précis
appreciable (adj.): 1818 (mid-15c. in sense "worthy"); from French appréciable and directly from Medieval Latin appretiabilis, from Late Latin appretiare (see appreciate). Related: Appreciably.
appreciate (v.): 1650s, "to esteem or value highly," from Late Latin appretiatus, past participle of appretiare "to set a price to" (see appraise). Meaning "to rise in value" (intransitive) first recorded 1789. Related: Appreciated; appreciating.
appreciated (adj.): "enhanced in value," 1794; "received with gratitude," by 1831; past participle adjective from appreciate.
appreciation (n.): c. 1600 (with an isolated use from c. 1400), from Anglo-French appreciation, noun of action from Old French apprécier (14c.), from Late Latin appretiare "estimate the quality of" (see appreciate). Generally with a sense of "high estimation" from c. 1650. Meaning "expression of (favorable) estimation" is from 1858; sense of "rise in value" is from c. 1790.
appreciative (adj.): 1650s (implied in appreciatively); see appreciate + -ive. Related: Appreciativeness.
depreciate (v.): mid-15c., from Latin depretiatus, past participle of depretiare "to lower the price of, undervalue," from de- "down" (see de-) + pretium "price" (see price (n.)). Related: Depreciated; depreciating; depreciatory.
depreciation (n.): 1767, "a lowering of value" (originally of currency), noun of action from depreciate. Meaning "loss of value of a durable good by age or wear" is from 1900.
imprecise (adj.): 1805, from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + precise. Related: Imprecisely.
imprecision (n.): 1803, from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + precision.
precieuse (n.): "pedantic woman, woman aiming at refined delicacy of language and taste" (1727), from French précieuse, noun use of fem. of précieux (see precious (adj.)); especially as lampooned in Molière's comedy "Les Précieuses ridicules" (1659).
precinct (n.): c. 1400, prasaynt (mid-15c. as precincte), "district defined for purposes of government or representation," from Medieval Latin precinctum "enclosure, boundary line," noun use of neuter past participle of Latin praecingere "to gird about, surround," from prae- "before" (see pre-) + cingere "to surround, encircle" (see cinch (v.)).
precious (adj.): mid-13c., from Old French precios "precious, costly, honorable, of great worth" (11c., Modern French précieux), from Latin pretiosus "costly, valuable," from pretium "value, worth, price" (see price (n.)). Meaning "over-refined" in English first recorded late 14c. In Johnson's day, it also had a secondary inverted sense of "worthless." Related: Preciously; preciousness.
precious (n.): "beloved or dear person or object," 1706, from precious (adj.).
precipe (n.): 1610s, from Latin praecipes, variant of praeceps "headfirst, headlong, precipitous," as a noun, "a precipice" (see precipice).
precipice (n.): "steep face of rock," 1630s, from Middle French précipice, from Latin praecipitium "a steep place," literally "a fall or leap," from praeceps (genitive praecipitis) "steep, headlong, headfirst," from prae "before, forth" (see pre-) + caput "head" (see head (n.)). Earlier in English as a verb (1590s) meaning "fall to great depth."
precipitant (adj.): 1610s, from Latin precipitantem, present participle of praecipitare (see precipitate (v.)). As a noun in chemistry from 1680s. The adjective senses now are taken by precipitate (adj.).
precipitate (v.): "to hurl or fling down," 1520s, a back formation from precipitation or else from Latin praecipitatus, past participle of praecipitare "to throw or dive headlong," from praeceps "steep, headlong, headfirst" (see precipice). Meaning "to cause to happen, hurry the beginning of" is recorded from 1620s. Chemical sense is from 1620s; meteorological sense first attested 1863. Related: Precipitated; precipitating.
precipitate (adj.): c. 1600, from Latin praecipitatus, past participle of praecipitare "to throw or dive headlong" (see precipitate (v.)). Meaning "hasty" is attested from 1650s. Related: Precipitately.
precipitate (n.): 1560s, probably a back formation from precipitation.
precipitation (n.): late 15c., "a casting down" (of the evil angels from heaven), also, in alchemy "separation of a solid substance from a solution," from Middle French precipitation (15c.) and directly from Latin praecipitationem (nominative praecipitatio) "act or fact of falling headlong, haste," noun of action from past participle stem of praecipitare "fall, be hasty," from praeceps "steep" (see precipice). Meaning "sudden haste" is c. 1500. Meaning "act of falling from a height" is attested from 1610s. Meteorological sense of "rain, snow, dew, etc." is from 1670s.
precipitious (adj.): 1610s, now obsolete, but prefered by purists for the sense "high and steep" over the later formation precipitous.
precipitous (adj.): 1640s, "rash, headlong," from obsolete French precipiteux (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *praecipitosus, from praecipitare (see precipitation). Related: Precipitously; precipitousness.
precis (n.): 1760, from French noun use of Middle French précis "cut short, condensed" (see precise). As a verb, from 1856.
precise (adj.): mid-15c., from Middle French précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin precisus, from Latin praecisus "abrupt, abridged, cut off," past participle of praecidere "to cut off, shorten," from prae "before" (see pre-) + caedere "to cut" (see -cide; for Latin vowel change, see acquisition). Related: Precisely (late 14c.).
preciseness (n.): "precision," 1560s, from precise + -ness.
precisian (n.): "one devoted to precision," 1570s, from precise + -ian on model of Christian, etc.
precision (n.): 1630s, "a cutting off (mentally), abstraction," from French précision (16c.) and directly from Latin praecisionem (nominative praecisio) "a cutting off," noun of action from past participle stem of praecidere (see precise). Meaning "preciseness" is from 1740.
semiprecious (adj.): also semi-precious, 1818, from semi- + precious (adj.).
unappreciated (adj.): 1809, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of appreciate (v.).
unappreciative (adj.): 1834, from un- (1) "not" + appreciative. Related: Unappreciatively; unappreciativeness.
preciosity: "Excessive refinement in art, music, or language", Mid 19th century: suggested by French préciosité, a sense derived from Molière's Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659), a comedy in which ladies frequenting the literary salons of Paris were satirized.