Compress

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kəmˈpɹɛs/

Definitions

1. To press or squeeze something together to make it smaller or take up less space
2. To reduce the physical dimensions of an object or material through force while also condensing information or data to a more concise format
3. To apply force to an object or substance to make it occupy less space ; to encode or transform data to occupy less memory or bandwidth

Etymology: The verb arrived in English through Old French, but its deeper ancestry is Latin's "comprimere," built from "com-" (together) and "premere" (to press). The Latin past participle "compressus" passed into Late Latin as "compressare," meaning to press hard or together, and from there into Old French as "compresser." Middle English borrowed it as "compressen," so the core idea of pushing things into a smaller space has stayed fixed for well over six centuries. The same Latin root gave English "press," "pressure," and "express," which makes this word a close relative of familiar terms rather than a stranger. The "com-" prefix does the work of gathering things into one place, so the sense of squeezing parts together is written into its construction.

Synonyms: squeeze, press, compact, condense, flatten

Antonyms: expand, inflate, enlarge, spread, uncompress