Depression
Etymology
From Latin "deprimere" (to press down), from "de-" (down) and "premere" (to press). The shared image explains both uses: a depressed person feels weighed down and flattened, and a depressed economy is one pressed below its normal level of activity.
noun · /dih-PRESH-un/
A persistent state of low mood and loss of interest, or by extension a prolonged economic downturn.
What it names
A pressed-down condition — of a person or an economy — marked by loss of energy and capacity, not merely a passing low.
Example
What she called laziness was clinical depression, and no amount of willpower lifted the weight until she got treatment.
Related idea
Depression is a lasting, often causeless flattening of mood and function; melancholy names a gentler, sometimes almost pleasurable pensive sadness — one is an illness, the other a mood.
noun · /dih-PRESH-un/
A sunken or hollowed-out area lying below the surrounding surface.
What it names
a dip or hollow in a surface or landscape
Example
Rainwater collected in a shallow depression in the middle of the field.
Related idea
Low-lying depressions flood first, which is why they figure early in any plan for managed retreat.
noun · /dih-PRESH-un/
In meteorology, a region of low atmospheric pressure, typically bringing clouds, wind, and rain.
What it names
a low-pressure weather system
Example
A deep depression moving in from the Atlantic will bring gales by morning.
Related idea
A severe depression over the sea can pile up water into a storm surge — the kind of swell loosely called a tidal wave.
See also