press

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pres/^[1]

press¹ push, squeeze

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English pressen, borrowed from Old French presser (“to squeeze, press upon; torture”),^[2][3] also directly from Latin pressāre (“to press”),^[3] a frequentative of premere (“to press, hold fast, crowd”), formed from its past participle pressus.^[2][4][5] Etymonline traces premere to Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to strike”).^[2][6] The noun is inherited from Middle English presse, from presse (“a throng, a crush; a wine or cheese press”),^[2][4] though late Old English already had press for a clothes press.^[2] The same Latin verb gave pressure and print.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun meant a crowd or throng from before 1225,^[9] or about 1300,^[2] and the verb “to offer, urge” before 1325^[3] or “to clasp, embrace” in the early 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb meant “to squeeze out”, “to crowd together”, “to exert pressure” and “to push forward”.^[2][3] A machine for pressing grapes or cloth is from the late 14th century,^[2] or 1373.^[10] “To urge, argue for” is from the 1590s,^[2] and “urgency” as a noun from the 1640s.^[2] A printing machine is a press from the 1530s, extended to a publishing house by the 1570s and to publishing generally, as in freedom of the press, from about 1680;^[2] this shifted to newspapers and journalism about 1800–1820,^[2] and to journalists collectively by 1921.^[2] Word Origins dates journalists as the press to the late 18th century.^[7] Press agent is from 1873 and press conference from 1931,^[2] and to press the flesh, “to shake hands”, is by 1926.^[2] The weightlifting sense is from 1908.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1225 – noun, a crowd.^[9]
• before 1325 – verb, to urge.^[3]
• late 14th century – a pressing machine; to exert pressure.^[2]
• 1530s – a printing press.^[2]
• c. 1680 – freedom of the press.^[2]
• c. 1800–1820 – newspapers, journalism.^[2]
• 1873 – press agent.^[2]
• 1921 – journalists collectively.^[2]
• 1931 – press conference.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To exert steady weight or force against; to squeeze.
2. To extract by squeezing; to shape or flatten by pressure; to iron clothes.
3. To hold close; to clasp.
4. To urge or entreat; to insist on.
5. To push forward; to crowd.

Noun

1. A machine that applies pressure; a printing press.
2. A printing or publishing house.
3. Newspapers and journalism; journalists collectively.
4. A crowd; urgency, pressure of affairs.
5. A cupboard, especially for clothes or books.

Word family

• pressure
• presser
• pressing
• press agent
• press conference
• press release
• printing press

press² force into service

Etymology

Forcing into service is an alteration, by association with press¹, of obsolete prest “to engage with pay in advance”,^[2][3][4] from Middle English prest “loan, enlistment money”,^[3][6] borrowed from Old French prest (“loan, advance pay”), from prester (“to lend”),^[3][11] from Latin praestāre (“to furnish, make available; to stand out”),^[2][3] from praestō (“ready, available”),^[3][6] the source of presto.^[3] Etymonline analyses praestāre as prae- “before” and stāre “to stand”.^[2] Klein calls press a back-formation from prest, mistaken for a past participle.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To force a man into the army or navy: 1543 in the OED and Merriam-Webster,^[9][5] or 1578 in Barnhart, with prest “to engage recruits by an advance” from 1513.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Money paid to a soldier or sailor on enlisting was prest in the mid-14th century.^[2] The noun press, the impressing of men for the navy, is from 1592,^[9] and a warrant for it from 1596.^[9] To seize for royal or public use is from 1633,^[9] and to put to an unusual use, as in pressed into service, from 1598.^[9]

Timeline

• 1359–60 – prest, a loan.^[3]
• 1513 – prest, to engage recruits.^[3]
• 1543 – press, to force into service.^[9][5]
• 1592 – noun, impressment.^[9]
• 1598 – to put to an unusual use.^[9]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To force into service in the army or navy; to impress.
2. To take by force for public use; to use in an emergency for an unintended purpose.

Noun

1. (historical) Forced recruitment into the army or navy.

Word family

• press-gang

Related words

• compress
• depress
• express
• impress
• oppress
• repress
• suppress
• presto

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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
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 c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press