Suppresser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An agent that actively restricts or diminishes the expression or awareness of certain ideas or sentiments
2. A person or device that acts to hold back or limit something from manifesting
3. An entity or mechanism that reduces the activity or presence of a condition or response

Etymology: "Suppresser" is an alternative spelling of "suppressor", and the two forms share the same history: each is "suppress" with the agentive suffix "-or" added. The verb "suppress" comes from Latin "supprimere", "to press down or under", built from "sub" ("under") and "premere" ("to press"). The idea of pressing something down or holding it back runs through the whole family, so a suppressor is literally a thing or person that presses something under. The "-or" ending, borrowed from Latin and used in English to form nouns for agents, is what turns the verb into a noun for the one doing the pressing. That same pattern gives us "author", "governor" and "conqueror". The spelling "suppresser", with the extra "e", follows the pattern of verbs ending in "-ss" that take "-er" in English, though "suppressor" is the form more commonly found in dictionaries.

Synonyms: oppressor, repressor