appreciation

appreciation
    n 1: understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or
         magnitude of something; "he has a good grasp of accounting
         practices" [syn: {appreciation}, {grasp}, {hold}]
    2: delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values);
       "arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid
       success"; "to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in
       bad taste" [syn: {taste}, {appreciation}, {discernment},
       {perceptiveness}]
    3: an expression of gratitude; "he expressed his appreciation in
       a short note"
    4: a favorable judgment; "a small token in admiration of your
       works" [syn: {admiration}, {appreciation}]
    5: an increase in price or value; "an appreciation of 30% in the
       value of real estate" [ant: {depreciation}]
    

Appreciation \Ap*pre`ci*a"tion\, n. [Cf. F. appr['e]ciation.]
   1. A just valuation or estimate of merit, worth, weight,
      etc.; recognition of excellence.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Accurate perception; true estimation; as, an appreciation
      of the difficulties before us; an appreciation of colors.
      [1913 Webster]

            His foreboding showed his appreciation of Henry's
            character.                            --J. R. Green.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A rise in value; -- opposed to {depreciation}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

180 Moby Thesaurus words for "appreciation":
      acceptance, access, accession, accretion, accrual, accruement,
      accumulation, acknowledgment, addition, admiration, admission,
      adoration, advance, aggrandizement, allowance, amplification,
      analyzing, apotheosis, apperception, appraisal, appraisement,
      appraising, appreciation of differences, appreciativeness,
      approbation, approval, artistic judgment, ascent, assessing,
      assessment, augmentation, avowal, awareness, awe, ballooning,
      bloating, blurb, boom, boost, breathless adoration, broadening,
      buildup, cognition, cognizance, commendation, comprehension,
      concession, confession, connoisseurship, consciousness,
      consideration, courtesy, crescendo, critical niceness,
      criticalness, declaration, deference, deification, delicacy,
      development, discriminating taste, discriminatingness,
      discrimination, discriminativeness, duty, edema, elevation,
      enhancement, enjoyment, enlargement, esteem, estimate, estimation,
      evaluating, evaluation, evaluative criticism, exaggerated respect,
      expansion, extension, fastidiousness, favor, feel, feeling,
      fine palate, finesse, flood, gain, gauging, good word,
      gratefulness, gratitude, great respect, greatening, growth, gush,
      hero worship, high regard, hike, homage, honor, honorable mention,
      hype, idolatry, idolization, increase, increment, inflation,
      insight, judiciousness, jump, knowledge, leap, making distinctions,
      measurement, mindfulness, mounting, multiplication,
      niceness of distinction, nicety, noesis, note, notice, obligation,
      opinion, palate, perception, plug, prestige, productiveness,
      profession, proliferation, promotion, puff, raise, ranking, rating,
      realization, reckoning, recognition, refined discrimination,
      refined palate, refinement, regard, respect, reverence,
      reverential regard, rise, salvo, selectiveness, sense,
      sense of obligation, sensibility, sensitivity, snowballing, spread,
      subtlety, surge, swelling, tact, tactfulness, taste, thankfulness,
      thanks, tribute, tumescence, understanding, up, upping, upsurge,
      upswing, uptrend, upturn, valuation, valuing, veneration, view,
      waxing, weighing, widening, worship