Etymologically
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opprimo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɔp.prɪ.moː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔp.pri.mo][1]

Forms

opprimō (present infinitive opprimere, perfect active oppressī, supine oppressum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled obprimō.[2][3] Plautus has the short form oppresset for oppressisset.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ob- (“against”) + premō (“to press”).[2][3][1] premō goes back to Proto-Italic *pres- and Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”); its present stem ⟨prem-⟩ was probably made on the model of tremō (“to tremble”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus, of a breast being squeezed (ubi mammia mammicula opprimitur).[2] Cato has pede tāleam opprimitō, “press the cutting down with your foot”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Opprimere is “to press on, squeeze”, and Ovid uses it of closing the mouth.[2][3] It is “to smother, stifle” (Varro of a piglet crushed by the sow), “to bury, overwhelm”, and of sleep or wine “to overpower” (Terence: somnus virginem opprimit, “sleep overcomes the girl”).[2] In war it is “to crush” troops or take a place by storm, and “to take by surprise, catch unawares”.[2][1] It is also “to put an end to, suppress” a conspiracy, a state of affairs or a feeling.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “oppress, overwhelm, crush, press down”.[5] English oppress (late 14th century) comes from its participle through French.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ubi mammia mammicula opprimitur.[2][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato: pede tāleam opprimitō.[2][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: somnus virginem opprimit.[2][7]
  • late 14th century – English oppress.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To press on, squeeze; to press down, close.[2][3][1][5]
  2. To smother, stifle.[2]
  3. To bury, overwhelm; to overpower (of sleep or wine).[2][1][5]
  4. To crush (troops); to take by storm.[2][1][5]
  5. To suppress, put an end to.[2][1]
  6. To take by surprise, catch unawares.[2][1]
  7. To oppress.[5]

Word family

  • oppressiō
  • oppressor
  • oppressus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de