oppression

English

Etymology

From Middle English oppression, from Old French oppression, from Latin oppressiō (“a pressing down, violence, oppression”), from opprimō; see oppress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈpɹɛʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʃən
• Hyphenation: op‧pres‧sion

Noun

oppression (countable and uncountable, plural oppressions)

1. The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], OCLC 37026674, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

     Oh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings […] pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves […]

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.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:

     […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.

   Our oppression was lifted by the reappearance of the sun.

Hyponyms

• the English vice (oppression of the poor)

Derived terms

• Oppression Olympics

Related terms

• oppress

Translations

act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed

• Albanian: trysni (sq) f, shtypje (sq) f
• Arabic: ظُلْم‎ (ar) m (ẓulm)
• Armenian: հալածանք (hy) (halacankʿ)
• Azerbaijani: zülm (az)
• Belarusian: прыгнёт m (pryhnjót), прыгнеча́нне n (pryhnječánnje)
• Bengali: জুলুম (julum), নিপীড়ন (bn) (nipiṛôn)
• Bulgarian: поти́сничество (bg) n (potísničestvo), гнет (bg) m (gnet), угнетя́ване (bg) n (ugnetjávane), притесне́ние (bg) n (pritesnénie)
• Catalan: opressió f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓迫 (zh), 压迫 (zh) (yāpò), 壓制 (zh), 压制 (zh) (yāzhì)

• Czech: útlak m
• Danish: undertrykkelse c
• Dutch: onderdrukking (nl) f
• Estonian: rõhumine
• Finnish: sorto (fi)
• French: oppression (fr) f
• Galician: opresión (gl) f
• Georgian: შევიწროება (ševic̣roeba), ჩაგვრა (čagvra)
• German: Unterdrückung (de) f
• Greek: καταπίεση (el) f (katapíesi)
• Hebrew: דיכוי \ דִּכּוּי‎ m (dikúy)
• Hindi: ज़ुल्म m (zulm), उत्पीड़न (hi) m (utpīṛan)
• Hungarian: elnyomás (hu)
• Irish: ansmacht m, leatrom m
• Italian: oppressione (it) f
• Japanese: 圧迫 (ja) (あっぱく, appaku), 圧制 (ja) (あっせい, assei)
• Kazakh: езгі (ezgi)
• Korean: 압박 (ko) (apbak), 압제 (ko) (apje)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: چەوساندنەوە‎ (çewsandnewe), زۆرداری‎ (ku) (zordarî)

  Northern Kurdish: zilm (ku), zordarî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: эзүү (ky) (ezüü)
• Latvian: apspiešana f
• Lithuanian: priespauda f
• Macedonian: угнетување n (ugnetuvanje)
• Middle English: tyrauntrie
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: undertrykkelse m

• Pashto: ظلم‎ (ps) m (zᶕlәm)
• Persian: ظلم‎ (fa) (zolm)
• Polish: ucisk (pl) m, opresja (pl) f
• Portuguese: opressão (pt) f
• Romanian: oprimare (ro) f
• Russian: гнёт (ru) m (gnjot), угнете́ние (ru) n (ugneténije), притесне́ние (ru) n (pritesnénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: sàrachadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: tlačenje (sh) n, ugnjetavanje (sh) n, opresija (sh) f

• Slovak: útlak m
• Slovene: tlačenje n, zatiranje n
• Spanish: opresión (es) f
• Swedish: förtryck (sv)
• Tajik: зулм (zulm)
• Tatar: золым (tt) (zolım)
• Tocharian B: nauske
• Turkish: zulüm (tr)
• Ukrainian: гніт m (hnit), пригні́чення n (pryhníčennja), пригно́блення n (pryhnóblennja)
• Urdu: ظلم‎ (ur) m (zulm)
• Uyghur: زۇلۇم‎ (zulum)
• Uzbek: zulm (uz)
• Vietnamese: sự áp bức (vi)
• Yiddish: באַדריקונג‎ f (badrikung), אונטערדריקונג‎ f (unterdrikung)

feeling of being oppressed

• Dutch: bedruktheid f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: زۆرداری‎ (ku) (zordarî)

• Scottish Gaelic: sàrachadh m
• Serbo-Croatian: potlačenost (sh) f, ugnjetenost (sh) f

exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner

• Bulgarian: гнет (bg) m (gnet)
• Dutch: onderdrukking (nl) f
• Finnish: sortaminen (fi)
• French: oppression (fr) f
• Georgian: შევიწროება (ševic̣roeba)
• German: Unterdrückung (de) f

• Irish: ansmacht m, leatrom m, cos ar bolg m
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: زۆرداری‎ (ku) (zordarî)

• Macedonian: гнет (gnet)
• Russian: гнёт (ru) m (gnjot), угнете́ние (ru) n (ugneténije), притесне́ние (ru) n (pritesnénije), и́го (ru) n (ígo) (figuratively)
• Serbo-Croatian: tlačenje (sh) n, potlačivanje n, ugnjetavanje (sh) n, opresija (sh) f
• Turkish: baskı (tr) (figuratively)
• Ukrainian: пригно́блення n (pryhnóblennja), гніт m (hnit), у́тиск m (útysk)

Further reading

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

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French

Etymology

From Latin oppressiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.pʁɛ.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

oppression f (plural oppressions)

1. oppression
2. (Louisiana) asthma

Further reading

• “oppression”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.