It’s common in the computer industry to hear about a feature, function, or attribute being “deprecated.” That means the deprecated thing is being phased out or eliminated. This seems to come from 1990, in a Request for Comments document (an “RFC”) that suggested “In order to better prepare implementors for future changes … a new term “deprecated” may be used when describing an object. A deprecated object … is one which must be supported, but one which will most likely be removed from the next version …”.
This was in RFC number 1158, written by Marshall Rose. These things are all preserved in an online archive; you can do a search and read it for yourself. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it though, this particular one runs to about 133 pages of specifications about “second version of the Management Information Base (MIB-II) for use with network management protocols in TCP/IP-based internets.” In short, the plot is thin and the characters are mostly one-dimensional.
But the interesting thing about it, at least around here, is the introduction of the word “deprecate.” Rose wouldn’t have come up with this himself; “deprecate” was in use already in the computer industry, and this document was merely the first to put it in writing. But why “deprecate”?
“Deprecate” comes from the Latin “dēprecārī.” It entered English in the 1600s and meant “to pray against evil” or “to pray for deliverance.” Not the first thing that comes to mind when you’re working with computers (unless you’re using Facebook, of course). But you can see a hint of why the word seemed like it meant “eliminate something” in some of the ways it was used: “I cannot deprecate thy rebuke; my sinnes call for correction; but I deprecate thine anger” (1631) and “Evil shall come upon thee, which thou shalt not know how to deprecate” (1778). Without more context — and if you’re not already familiar with the word — “deprecate” seems like it might mean “remove” or “eliminate” rather than “pray about.”
“Deprecate” later on came to mean “to express disapproval.” In 1875 it was used this way: “Such a method of proceeding is greatly to be deprecated.” Once again, if you’re not familiar with the word you might conclude that it means “to avoid” or even “to eliminate.”
It’s also possible that “deprecate” wasn’t the word the programmers thought it was; they might have meant “depreciate.” That word entered the language about the same time as “deprecate,” and since the start has meant “to lower in value.” But the two words are similar enough that they’ve been confused now and then, and books about grammar and usage sometimes mention them as two words you should take care not to mix up. “Depreciate” also provides a kind of fit with the idea of “something that will be removed from the next version.”
The computer industry usage of “deprecate” hasn’t yet made it into all dictionaries, although you’ll probably find it in the ones published only online. But it will likely get there soon; this is a good live example of watching English change right before your eyes. As for the original sense of “deprecate” as praying for or against something — that’s been deprecated.
