"process or fact of being reduced in value," 1898; see de- + valuation. Specific application to currency is from 1914.
Entries linking to devaluation
de-
active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.
As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.
valuation n.
1520s, from French valuation, noun of action from valuer, from Old French valoir (see value (n.)).
devalue v.
"to reduce or annul the value of," 1918, a back-formation from devaluation. The earlier verb was devaluate (1898). Related: Devalued; devaluing.