depression

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈpreʃ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English depressioun,^[2] from Old French depression (14th century) and directly from Medieval Latin dēpressiō,^[3][2][4] a noun of action from the past participle stem of Latin dēprimere “to press down”,^[3][5] the source of depress.^[3][5] Late Latin dēpressiō meant “act of pressing down”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In astronomy, the angular distance of a star below the horizon: about 1391 in the OED,^[6] about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3] Defeat or degradation, a sense now rare, is also late Middle English.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Dejection, a sinking of the spirits, is from the early 15th century,^[3][4] and as a clinical term in psychology from 1905.^[3] An Old English word for melancholy was grevoushede.^[3] The literal act of pressing down is attested from the 1650s,^[3][6] and a hollow or sunken place on a surface from 1665.^[6] A lowering of economic activity was in use by 1826,^[3] and with a capital D, by 1934, the worldwide slump that began in 1929.^[3] The meteorological sense, an area of low barometric pressure, is from 1881.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1391 – in astronomy.^[6]
• early 15th century – dejection.^[3]
• 1650s – the act of pressing down.^[3][6]
• 1665 – a hollow.^[6]
• 1826 – an economic slump.^[3]
• 1881 – in meteorology.^[3]
• 1905 – a clinical condition.^[3]
• 1934 – the Depression.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A condition of feeling sad and hopeless; in medicine, a mental disorder marked by persistent low mood, loss of interest and other symptoms.
2. A long period of severely reduced economic activity and high unemployment.
3. the Depression: the worldwide economic slump that began in 1929.
4. A sunken place or hollow in a surface.
5. An area of low atmospheric pressure.
6. The act of pressing down, or the state of being pressed down.
7. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon.

Word family

• antidepression
• immunodepression
• nondepression
• postdepression
• angle of depression
• clinical depression
• manic depression

Related words

• depress
• depressant
• depressed
• depressing
• depressive
• press

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press