oppress

English

Etymology

From Middle English oppressen, from Old French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressare (“to press against, oppress”), frequentive of Latin opprimere, past participle oppressus (“to press against, press together, oppress”), from ob (“against”) + premere, past participle pressus (“to press”); see press.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Verb

oppress (third-person singular simple present oppresses, present participle oppressing, simple past and past participle oppressed)

1. (obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.x:

     Most mercilesse of women, VVyden hight, / Her other sonne fast sleeping did oppresse, / And with most cruell hand him murdred pittilesse.

2. (transitive) To keep down by force

   The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.

3. (transitive) To make sad or gloomy

   We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.

Related terms

• oppression

Translations

keep down by force

• Arabic: اخمد (’áxmada)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓迫, 压迫 (zh) (yāpò)

• Czech: utiskovat
• Danish: undertrykke
• Dutch: onderdrukken (nl)
• Esperanto: subpremi, kontraŭpremi
• Finnish: sortaa (fi), alistaa (fi)
• French: opprimer (fr)

• German: unterdrücken (de)
• Hungarian: elnyom (hu), nyomorgat (hu), sanyargat (hu)
• Italian: opprimere (it)
• Japanese: 圧迫する (あっぱくする, appaku suru)
• Korean: 압박하다 (ko) (apbakhada)
• Portuguese: oprimir (pt)
• Russian: притеснять (ru) (pritesnját’)
• Spanish: oprimir (es)
• Swedish: nedtrycka

to make sad or gloomy

• Finnish: painaa + genitive + mieltä, ahdistaa (fi)

• Hungarian: lehangol (hu), lesújt (hu), lever (hu)

External links

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