From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
deprecate \dep"re*cate\ (d[e^]p"r[-e]*k[=a]t), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Deprecated} (-k[=a]'t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Deprecating} (-k[=a]'t[i^]ng).] [L. deprecatus, p. p. of deprecari to avert by prayer, to deprecate; de- + precari to pray. See {Pray}.] To pray against, as an evil; to seek to avert by prayer; to seek deliverance from; to express deep regret for; to desire the removal of. [archaic]
2. To protest against; to advance reasons against. [PJC]
His purpose was deprecated by all round him, and he was with difficulty induced to adandon it. --Sir W. Scott.
3. To disapprove of strongly; to express a low opinion of. [PJC]
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
deprecated adjective Said of a program or feature that is considered obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, usually in favor of a specified replacement. Deprecated features can, unfortunately, linger on for many years. This term appears with distressing frequency in standards documents when the committees writing the documents realize that large amounts of extant (and presumably happily working) code depend on the feature(s) that have passed out of favor. See also {dusty deck}.
[Usage note: don't confuse this word with 'depreciate', or the verb form 'deprecate' with 'depreciated'. They are different words; see any dictionary for discussion.]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
deprecated Said of a program or feature that is considered obsolescent and in the process of being phased out, usually in favour of a specified replacement. Deprecated features can, unfortunately, linger on for many years. This term appears with distressing frequency in standards documents when the committees writing the documents realise that large amounts of extant (and presumably happily working) code depend on the feature(s) that have passed out of favour. See also {dusty deck}. [{Jargon File}] (1995-04-19)
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