\Ap*pre"ci*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Appreciated};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Appreciating}.] [L. appretiatus, p. p. of
appretiare to value at a price, appraise; ad + pretiare to
prize, pretium price. Cf. {Appraise}.]
1. To set a price or value on; to estimate justly; to value.
         To appreciate the motives of their enemies.
                                               --Gibbon.
3. To raise the value of; to increase the market price of; --
   opposed to {depreciate}. [U.S.]
         Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.
                                               --Ramsay.
4. To be sensible of; to distinguish.
         To test the power of bees to appreciate color.
                                               --Lubbock.
Syn: To {Appreciate}, {Estimate}, {Esteem}.
Usage: Estimate is an act of judgment; esteem is an act of
       valuing or prizing, and when applied to individuals,
       denotes a sentiment of moral approbation. See
       {Estimate}. Appreciate lies between the two. As
       compared with estimate, it supposes a union of
       sensibility with judgment, producing a nice and
       delicate perception. As compared with esteem, it
       denotes a valuation of things according to their
       appropriate and distinctive excellence, and not simply
       their moral worth. Thus, with reference to the former
       of these (delicate perception), an able writer says.
       ``Women have a truer appreciation of character than
       men;'' and another remarks, ``It is difficult to
       appreciate the true force and distinctive sense of
       terms which we are every day using.'' So, also, we
       speak of the difference between two things, as
       sometimes hardly appreciable. With reference to the
       latter of these (that of valuation as the result of a
       nice perception), we say, ``It requires a peculiar
       cast of character to appreciate the poetry of
       Wordsworth;'' ``He who has no delicacy himself, can
       not appreciate it in others;'' ``The thought of death
       is salutary, because it leads us to appreciate worldly
       things aright.'' Appreciate is much used in cases
       where something is in danger of being overlooked or
       undervalued; as when we speak of appreciating the
       difficulties of a subject, or the risk of an
       undertaking. So Lord Plunket, referring to an
       ``ominous silence'' which prevailed among the Irish
       peasantry, says, ``If you knew how to appreciate that
       silence, it is more formidable than the most clamorous
       opposition.'' In like manner, a person who asks some
       favor of another is apt to say, ``I trust you will
       appreciate my motives in this request.'' Here we have
       the key to a very frequent use of the word. It is
       hardly necessary to say that appreciate looks on the
       favorable side of things. we never speak of
       appreciating a man's faults, but his merits. This idea
       of regarding things favorably appears more fully in
       the word appreciative; as when we speak of an
       appreciative audience, or an appreciative review,
       meaning one that manifests a quick perception and a
       ready valuation of excellence.

\Ap*pre"ci*ate\, v. i.
To rise in value. [See note under {Rise}, v. i.] --J. Morse.