appréciation

Forms

appréciation f (plural appréciations)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French apprécier + -ation.^[2][3][4] Late Latin had appretiātiō, but it is so rare that Bloch and Wartburg and Rey think the French word was made from the verb independently;^[5][2] the Petit Robert names the Latin word as the source.^[6] The verb, recorded in 1391, is from Late Latin appretiō (“to appraise”), from ad- and pretiō, from pretium (“price”);^[2][5][1] Old French had the inherited aprisier.^[2][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey and the Grand Robert date it to 1389, Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF to 1398;^[2][3][5][4] the first sense is the fixing of a price or value.^[2] A 16th-century line of Loysel says that appretiations of corn, wine and wood must follow the court register and the common estimate of the year.^[7]

Semantic evolution

To the sense “setting a price” the word added in the early 19th century that of judging or assessing,^[2] which the Petit Robert dates to 1825.^[6] Unlike the verb apprécier, which by 1793 also meant to judge favourably, the noun stays neutral: an appréciation may be good or bad.^[2] In schools it is the comment a teacher writes on a pupil's work,^[6][8] and in the 20th century it took the economic sense of a rise in value.^[6]

Timeline

• 1389 – First record.^[2][3]
• 1391 – The verb apprécier is borrowed from Latin.^[2]
• 16th century – Loysel writes of appretiations of corn and wine.^[7]
• 1825 – Brillat-Savarin uses it for a series of judgments of taste.^[9][6]
• 20th century – It takes the sense “rise in value”.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of estimating the price or value of something: l'appréciation d'une maison par un notaire.^[6][7]
2. An estimate of a quantity perceived by the senses: une erreur d'appréciation de la vitesse.^[6][9]
3. Judgment, discretion: je laisse le choix à votre appréciation.^[6][8]
4. An opinion or comment, especially a teacher's remark on a pupil's work.^[6][8][4]
5. (economics) A rise in value, as of a currency.^[6]

Related words

• apprécier
• appréciable
• appréciateur
• appréciatif
• dépréciation
• Latin pretium

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard