different between appraise vs precious

English

Alternative forms

• apprize (archaic)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p?e?z/
• Rhymes: -e?z
• Hyphenation: ap?praise

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French aprisier (“apraise, set a price on”) (compare modern French apprécier), from Late Latin appretiare, from ad- + Latin pretium (“price, value”) (English precious), from which also appreciate, a doublet.

Verb

appraise (third-person singular simple present appraises, present participle appraising, simple past and past participle appraised)

1. (transitive) To determine the value or worth of something, particularly as a person appointed for this purpose.

2. (transitive) To consider comprehensively.
3. (transitive) To judge the performance of someone, especially a worker.

4. (transitive) To estimate; to conjecture.
5. (transitive) To praise; to commend.

Derived terms

Related terms

• appreciate
• precious

Translations

Etymology 2

Form of apprise in use since 1706 but considered incorrect by some.

Verb

appraise (third-person singular simple present appraises, present participle appraising, simple past and past participle appraised)

1. (transitive, proscribed) To apprise, inform.

English

Alternative forms

• pretious (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”), from Latin preti?sus (“of great value, costly, dear, precious”), from pretium (“value, price”); see price.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

precious (comparative more precious, superlative most precious)

1. Of high value or worth.

2. Regarded with love or tenderness.

3. (derogatory) Treated with too much reverence.

4. (derogatory) Contrived to be cute or charming.
5. (colloquial) Thorough; utter.

   a precious rascal

Synonyms

• (of high value): dear, valuable
• (contrived to charm): saccharine, syrupy, twee

Derived terms

• nonprecious
• precious metal
• precious stone
• preciously
• preciousness
• semiprecious

Related terms

Translations

Noun

precious (plural preciouses)

1. Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
   • 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

     “It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?”

   • 1909, Mrs. Teignmouth Shore, The Pride of the Graftons (page 57)

     She sat down with the dogs in her lap. "I won't neglect you for any one, will I, my preciouses?"

Adverb

precious (not comparable)

1. Very; an intensifier.

   There is precious little we can do.

   precious few pictures of him exist

Usage notes

This adverb is chiefly used before few and little; usage with other adjectives (slight, small, scant) is much more sporadic, and is in any case limited to the semantic field of “little, small, scarce, few”.

Translations

Further reading

• precious on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• precious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• precious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.