Depressioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Low spirits or deep sadness ; a sunken hollow in a surface or the land ; the act of pressing or forcing something downward ; a period of economic decline and reduced trade
2. A state of melancholy or gloom ; a dip or hollow in the ground ; the forcing of something downward ; a downturn in business and commerce
3. Dejection of spirit or prolonged unhappiness ; a sunken place in a landscape or surface ; the pushing or lowering of something ; a severe contraction in economic activity

Etymology: Before it named a low mood, this word described a physical act of pressing something down. It is the Middle English spelling of a term borrowed from Old French "depression", which came from Latin "depressio". That noun derives from "deprimere", "to press down", built from "de-" meaning "down" and "premere", "to press". The original sense was literal: a hollow, a dent, or something lowered from its former height. Early English uses stayed concrete and technical. Writers applied the idea to a heavenly body sinking below the horizon and to a lowered level or surface. The figurative sense of being weighed down in spirit grew out of that pressing-down image, so the modern mood meaning is an extension of the physical one rather than a separate word.