presión

Forms

presión f (plural presiones)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pressiō (“pressure; a fulcrum”), recorded from 1737.^[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed from premō (“to press”), whose supine stem is ⟨press-⟩, with the suffix -tiō;^[4][5][1] Vitruvius uses it for pressure and Caesar for the fulcrum of a lever.^[4][5][1] Bénaben derives it from the supine pressum.^[6]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Catalan pressió, French pression, Italian pressione and Portuguese pressão, the last recorded from 1789.^[1][7][8] Nascentes treats the Portuguese word as semi-learned.^[9]

De Vaan traces the perfect and participle stem ⟨press-⟩ of the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”); the present stem ⟨prem-⟩ is generally explained by analogy with tremō (“to tremble”).^[10][1] Wiktionary relates the root to *per- (“to push, beat”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Autoridades, in 1737, defined pressión as the act of squeezing or pressing something, a term used by apothecaries.^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

Terreros, at the end of the 18th century, gave a sense from physics, the push or weight of one body on another, beside the apothecaries' pressing of fruit or herbs.^[12] The Academy's dictionaries of 1817 and 1843 labelled the word as a term of physics.^[13][14] Barcia had presión atmosférica and the pressure of liquids on their vessels, and Alemany in 1917 the atmospheric pressure measured with a barometer.^[15][16]

The figurative sense “coercion” is recorded in Argentina: Garzón's dictionary quotes hacer presión from a parliamentary session of 1878 and a newspaper of 1901, and calls it more usual than the verb presionar.^[17] The Academy defined this sense in 2001 as force or coercion on a person or group, and the DLE now adds the sustained pressure put on an opponent.^[18][3] The verb presionar dates from the 20th century.^[2] In the Dominican Republic and in colloquial medical use presión is short for blood pressure.^[19][20]

Timeline

• 1737 – Autoridades records pressión as a term of the apothecaries.^[11][2]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros gives the sense from physics.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy labels it a term of physics.^[13]
• 1878 – hacer presión sobre someone, “to exert pressure”, in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.^[17]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin pressio and keeps the old sense “prison”.^[21]
• 1917 – Alemany defines presión atmosférica.^[16]
• 20th century – the verb presionar appears.^[2]
• 2001 – the Academy defines the sense “coercion”.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of pressing or compressing (apretar, comprimir): Basta una ligera presión para abrir la tapa.^[3][1]
2. Moral force or influence exerted on a person to condition their behaviour: Dimitió por la presión de su partido.^[3][22]
3. Continued harassment of an opponent to prevent a reaction and bring about defeat, in war or sport.^[3][22]
4. (physics) pressure: the force exerted per unit of surface, whose unit in the International System is the pascal.^[3]
5. (colloquial) Blood pressure (presión arterial).^[20][19]

Word family

• presionar

Related words

• prensa
• impresión
• expresión
• opresión
• compresión
• Latin premō
• French pression

Usage notes

Old Spanish presión, found in Berceo, the Libro de Apolonio and Alfonso X's Fuero Real in the senses “prison, captivity”, is a form of prisión, from Latin prehensio; the Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 and Alemany's of 1917 still listed it as obsolete.^{[23][21][24][16]} Autoridades also recorded an obsolete pressión meaning “prey, quarry” in hunting.^[11] Set phrases include presión atmosférica and presión arterial.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. presión
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. presión
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. presión
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. pressió
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pressão
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pressão
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 367
12. ^ a b Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 206
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 700
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 586
15. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 393
16. ^ a b c Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1367
17. ^ a b Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 398
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. presión
19. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. presión
20. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. presión
21. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 861
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. presión
23. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. presión
24. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 808