depressive

Etymology

It is formed from English depress + -ive,^[2][3] or, as the OED and Etymonline put it, from the stem of Latin dēpressus, the past participle of dēprimō (“to press down”), with the same suffix.^[4][5] The Latin verb is formed from dē- (“down”) and premō (“to press”).^[6][5] The Shorter Oxford instead derives it from French or Medieval Latin,^[7] and the OED compares Middle French depressif (“that annihilates”) (1468), the later French form meaning "that weakens" (1856), and Medieval Latin depressivus, used from the 13th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

That presses or pushes something down: 1620, in T. Venner's Via Recta.^[4][2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1610s, in the sense "able or tending to depress".^[5]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense was soon joined by a figurative one: from 1635 depressive meant causing low spirits, dispiriting.^[4] This followed the verb depress, which had meant "to make gloomy" since the 1620s.^[5] In the 19th century the word entered psychiatry for what relates to or is marked by depression, from 1868 in the OED;^[4] Etymonline dates the psychological use to 1905.^[5] From 1871 it was also used of what reduces the activity of something, such as the economy or a bodily system.^[4] As a noun, a person with depression, it is recorded from 1912,^[4] and Merriam-Webster dates the noun, especially of someone in the depressive phase of manic-depressive illness, to 1937.^[2]

Timeline

• 1620 – pressing or pushing down.^[4][2]
• 1635 – causing low spirits, dispiriting.^[4]
• 1868 – psychiatry: relating to or marked by depression.^[4] Etymonline dates the psychological use to 1905.^[5]
• 1871 – tending to reduce activity, as of the economy or a bodily system.^[4]
• 1912 – noun, a person with depression.^[4] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1937.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to, marked by, or suffering from depression as a mental illness: She had a depressive episode last winter.^[8][2][4][7]
2. Tending to lower the spirits; depressing, gloomy.^[8][2][4]
3. Tending to reduce activity, as of the economy or a bodily function.^[4]
4. That presses or pushes something down.^[4]

Noun

1. A person who suffers from depression, especially in the depressive phase of manic-depressive illness: As a depressive, he found the dark months hardest.^[2][4][7]

Word family

• depressively
• depressiveness
• nondepressive
• overdepressive
• postdepressive
• manic-depressive
• major depressive disorder

Related words

• depress
• depression
• press

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins