depress

English

Etymology

From Middle English depressen, from Old French depresser, from Latin dēpressus, perfect participle of dēprimō (“to press down, to weigh down”), from dē- (“off, away, down, out”) +‎ premō (“to press”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈpɹɛs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Verb

depress (third-person singular simple present depresses, present participle depressing, simple past and past participle depressed)

2. To press down.

   Synonyms: downbear, squash

   Depress the upper lever to start the machine.

   • 1947 January and February, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 39:

     As to the fireman, the sight of him at work, swinging round with his shovelful of coal and at the same moment lightly depressing his right heel and so working the pedal which causes the steam-operated firedoors to open like magic in front of the shovel, was always a pleasure.

3. To make depressed, sad or bored.

   Synonyms: deject, get down; see also Thesaurus:sadden

   Winter depresses me.

4. (economics) To cause a depression or a decrease in parts of the economy.

   Lower productivity will eventually depress wages.

   • 2023 July 20, Patrick Wintour, “What was the Black Sea grain deal and why did it collapse?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Russia claims the proportion of the grain that went to the very poorest countries was less than 4%, but this ignores the fact that even if wealthier countries were buying the wheat, the extra supply was depressing the general price all countries were paying.

5. To bring down or humble; to abase (pride, etc.).

   Synonyms: cut down to size, humiliate, put someone in their place

6. (mathematics) To reduce (an equation) in a lower degree.

Derived terms

• depressable, depressible
• depressant
• depressed
• depressing
• depression
• depressive
• depressogenic
• depressoid
• depressomotor
• depressor
• depress the pole
• immunodepress
• overdepress
• prodepressant

Translations

to press down on

• Bulgarian: натискам (bg) (natiskam)
• Finnish: painaa alas
• French: appuyer (fr)
• Hebrew: לחץ (he) (lakhátz)
• Ido: depresar (io)
• Portuguese: pressionar (pt)
• Slovak: stlačiť

to make depressed, sad or bored

• Bulgarian: гнетя (bg) (gnetja), потискам (bg) (potiskam)
• Catalan: deprimir (ca)
• Czech: deprimovat
• Dutch: deprimeren (nl)
• Finnish: masentaa (fi), ahdistaa (fi)
• German: deprimieren (de)
• Hebrew: דיכא (diké')
• Ido: depresar (io)
• Maori: rāwakiwaki, whakapōuri
• Portuguese: deprimir (pt)
• Slovak: deprimovať
• Spanish: deprimir (es)

to cause a depression or a decrease in parts of the economy

• Finnish: laskea (fi), alentaa (fi)
• Ido: depresar (io)

References

• “depress”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “depress”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pressed, spersed

Maltese

Alternative forms

• dipress

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian depresso.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛpˈrɛs/

Adjective

depress (feminine singular depressa, plural depressi)

1. depressed

Related terms

• ddeprima
• depressanti
• depressjoni