oppression

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

< Middle English oppression < Old French oppression < Latin oppressio (“‘a pressing down, violence, oppression’”) < opprimere, pp. oppressus (“‘to press down’”); see oppress.

[edit] Pronunciation

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[edit] Noun

oppression (countable and uncountable; plural oppressions)

1. The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
2. The act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed.

   The oppression of the poor by the aristocracy was one cause of the French Revolution.

3. A feeling of being oppressed.

   Our oppression was lifted by the reappearance of the sun.

[edit] Related terms

• oppress

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• oppression in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• oppression in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911