depression English · revision 4483

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1391|origins=la deprimere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈpreʃ.ən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|depressioun]],^(MWU 2024) from Old French depression (14th century) and directly [[der|la-med|dēpressiō]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) a noun of action from the past participle stem of Latin dēprimere “to press down”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) the source of [[depress]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Late Latin dēpressiō meant “act of pressing down”.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In astronomy, the angular distance of a star below the horizon: about 1391 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1400 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Defeat or degradation, a sense now rare, is also late Middle English.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dejection, a sinking of the spirits, is from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and as a clinical term in psychology from 1905.^(Etymonline) An Old English word for melancholy was grevoushede.^(Etymonline) The literal act of pressing down is attested from the 1650s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a hollow or sunken place on a surface from 1665.^(OED 1989) A lowering of economic activity was in use by 1826,^(Etymonline) and with a capital D, by 1934, the worldwide slump that began in 1929.^(Etymonline) The meteorological sense, an area of low barometric pressure, is from 1881.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1391 – in astronomy.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – dejection.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – the act of pressing down.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1665 – a hollow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1826 – an economic slump.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1881 – in meteorology.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1905 – a clinical condition.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1934 – ''the Depression''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A condition of feeling sad and hopeless; in medicine, a mental disorder marked by persistent low mood, loss of interest and other symptoms.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A long period of severely reduced economic activity and high [[unemployment]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''the Depression'': the worldwide economic slump that began in 1929.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A sunken place or [[hollow]] in a surface.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An area of low atmospheric [[pressure]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of pressing down, or the state of being pressed down.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[antidepression]]

+ * [[immunodepression]]

+ * [[nondepression]]

+ * [[postdepression]]

+ * [[angle of depression]]

+ * [[clinical depression]]

+ * [[manic depression]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[depress]]

+ * [[depressant]]

+ * [[depressed]]

+ * [[depressing]]

+ * [[depressive]]

+ * [[press]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}