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compressus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word compressus

compressus1 compressed, close

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin comprimō
Etymology tree of compressus1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin premo
Latin comprimo
Latin compressus
From the same root · compressus1
Latin deprimo ← premo
Latin opprimo ← premo
Latin pressura ← premo
Latin pressus ← premo
Latin supprimo ← premo
Latin compressio ← comprimo

Forms

compressus (feminine compressa, neuter compressum, comparative compressior, superlative compressimus, adverb compressē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The participle is from Latin comprimō (“to press together”), its perfect passive participle,[1][2] used as an adjective; the verb is formed from con- and premō (“to press”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his book on farming, uses it of the narrow jaws of good sheep.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means constricted or narrow;[2] in Celsus it is a medical word for costive bowels and for an ailment that binds them.[2][1] Cicero has the comparative adverb compressius for the more compact style of the dialecticians, against the broader one of the rhetoricians.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of narrow jaws.[2][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of costive bowels.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Pressed together, constricted, narrow.[2][1]
  2. (medicine) Costive (of the bowels); causing constipation.[2][1]

compressus2 pressure; embrace

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin comprimō
Etymology tree of compressus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin premo
Latin comprimo
Latin compressus
From the same root · compressus2
Latin deprimo ← premo
Latin opprimo ← premo
Latin pressura ← premo
Latin pressus ← premo
Latin supprimo ← premo
Latin compressio ← comprimo

Forms

compressus m (genitive compressūs); fourth declension[1][2] It is found only in the nominative and ablative singular.[5][2]

Etymology

The noun is from Latin comprimō (“to press together; to embrace”) + -tus, an action noun of the fourth declension.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who in the Amphitruo says that Jupiter made Alcmena pregnant by his embrace.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it is the embrace or sexual intercourse of a man;[2][6] Nonius notes that Plautus also used it of intercourse with a courtesan.[5] Cicero uses it in the general sense of pressure, of the earth pressing the seed, and Pliny the Elder of the closing of wings.[2][6] It is close in meaning to compressiō.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a sexual embrace.[3][2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of pressure.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Compression, pressure, pressing together.[2][6]
  2. Sexual intercourse, embrace (of a man).[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Compressus.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/compressus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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