pression

Forms

pression f (plural pressions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pressiō (“weight, fulcrum of a lever, winch”), a noun formed on pressum, the supine of premō (“to press”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word was used only in these technical senses; the wider senses of the French word come from presser.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1256, in Aldebrandin de Sienne's Régime du corps, in the plural for painful straining of the bowels, an isolated use.^[2][3][6] A second isolated use, “printing press”, is recorded in 1594.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word became established only in the 17th century, as the action noun of presser.^[3] As a term of physics it is found in Descartes (1638) and in Pascal (1647, pesanteur et pression de l'air), for the force acting on a surface, and later for the measure of that force per unit of area (1873).^[3][7][2] Technical phrases followed: pression des fluides (1751, d'Alembert), pression de l'atmosphère (1751), whence pression alone in meteorology (1845) and hautes, basses pressions (1896).^[3][2]

In common use it came to mean the action of pressing on something (1746, Condillac), and figuratively a force acting on a person, an influence (1789), notably in sous pression.^[2][3] The phrase mettre la pression arose in sport in the 1990s and spread to any attempt to push someone into acting.^[3] Groupe de pression (about 1955) is a calque of American English pressure group.^[3] By metonymy the word also names a two-part snap fastener (1906), also bouton-pression.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1256 – Aldebrandin de Sienne uses it for painful straining.^[2]
• 1594 – An isolated use for “printing press”.^[2][3]
• 1638 – Descartes uses it as a term of physics.^[7][3]
• 1647 – Pascal writes of the pression de l'air.^[2]
• 1746 – Condillac uses it for “the action of pressing”.^[2]
• 1751 – Pression des fluides appears in d'Alembert.^[2][3]
• 1789 – The figurative sense “influence” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1845 – Machine à haute pression is recorded by Bescherelle.^[2]
• 1906 – It names a snap fastener.^[3]
• c. 1955 – Groupe de pression is calqued on English.^[3]
• 1990s – Mettre la pression spreads from sport.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physics) pressure: a force acting on a surface, and its measure per unit of area: pression atmosphérique.^[8][9][10]
2. Sous pression: of a boiler or engine, with its steam at working pressure;^[9][10] (familiar) of a person, tense and impatient.^[9][10]
3. The action of pressing, or its force: une pression de la main.^[9][10][2]
4. (figurative) An influence that tends to constrain: faire pression sur quelqu'un, mettre la pression, groupe de pression “lobby”.^{[9][10][1][3]}
5. Bière pression, bière à la pression: draught beer.^[9][10][1]
6. (feminine or masculine) A snap fastener, also bouton-pression.^[9][10][1]
7. Pression artérielle: blood pressure.^[1][3]

Word family

• contre-pression
• surpression
• bouton-pression

Related words

• presser
• Latin pressiō

Usage notes

For blood pressure, France prefers tension, while pression is the usual word in Switzerland and Quebec.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 368a
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)