depression
/dɪˈpɹeʃən/dih-PREH-shuhn
/dɪˈpɹɛʃən/dih-PREH-shuhn
Meaningthe act of pressing down
Common meaning: deep sadness
Other meanings: a hollow; an economic slump
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- pressto pressLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1440 · scan
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘down, away, off’ + ‘to press’ → depression
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from depress + -ion.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DEPRESS, p.161 · scan
Roots
- premō, pressī, pressum Latin “to press”
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