Hello bp1-ga,
In the context of British and American insurance, "depreciation" is
defined as a decrease in value due to wear and tear, age or
obsolescence, and the like.
"Glossary Terms - D"
The SFS Group Plc
http://www.sfs-group.co.uk/glossary-D.html
"Glossary - D"
Swiss Life (UK)
http://www.swisslife.co.uk/pages/glossary/d.html
"Glossary of Insurance Terms"
California Department of Insurance
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/SAB/Glossary_2000.htm
"Glossary Of Insurance Terms"
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance
http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/om_gloss.htm
The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Volume D, page
218; Volume A, pages 410-411) traces the term "depreciation", as well
as the intransitive verb "depreciate" and their antonyms
"appreciation" and "appreciate", back to the late 18th century. The
first uses are for falls or rises in value of currency. The terms
"depreciation" and "depreciate" were soon applied to other contexts,
such as a "depreciation of the standard of morals" or a breed of
horses that had "depreciated". The timing fits with the date in your
question: "depreciation" had apparently gained a foothold in the
language by 1825. (This is taken from the hard copy of the first
edition of the OED; the online version of the OED is a subscription
database.)
I hope that this information is helpful.
- justaskscott-ga
I used various combinations of the following search terms on Google:
depreciation
insurance
terms
glossary
"wear and tear"
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