To make someone feel very sad or without hope. It can also mean to push something down physically or to reduce the level of something, like prices or activity.
From Latin *deprimere* meaning 'to press down', from *de-* ('down') and *premere* ('to press'). The emotional sense grew from the physical idea of being pushed down or weighed down.
The word captures three layers at once: pushing down a button, pushing down prices, and pushing down a person’s mood. That shared 'downward' feeling is why we say spirits are 'low' or the economy is 'depressed'.
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