oppression

English[edit]

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

oppression (countable and uncountable, plural oppressions)

The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
- 1614, Walter Raleigh, Historie of the World
  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 […]
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.
A feeling of being oppressed.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
  […] 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.

act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed

Albanian: 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) (nipīṛôn)
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)
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 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

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

Irish: ansmacht m, leatrom m, cos ar bolg m
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: زۆرداری‎ (ku) (zordarî)
Russian: гнёт (ru) m (gnjot), угнете́ние (ru) n (ugneténije), притесне́ние (ru) n (pritesnénije)
Serbo-Croatian: tlačenje (sh) n, potlačivanje n, ugnjetavanje (sh) n, opresija (sh) f
Ukrainian: пригно́блення n (pryhnóblennja), гніт m (hnit), у́тиск m (útysk)

oppression f (plural oppressions)