'appreciational' ultimately derives from Latin via French and English: the root is Latin 'pretium' (price/value) with the prefix 'ad-' (to/toward), which produced verbs meaning 'to set a price' and later 'to value'.

'appreciational' developed from Latin roots (ad- + pretium) into Old French verbs (aprecier/aprecier) and Middle English forms ('appreciate'/'appreciation'), with the adjectival '-al' suffix later forming 'appreciational' in modern English.

Initially connected to 'setting a price' or 'assessing value' in Latin, the sense broadened in English to include both 'valuing' (assessment) and 'feeling/expressing gratitude'; 'appreciational' now relates to either of these senses.