To make someone feel sad or hopeless, or to push something downward.
From Latin 'deprimere': 'de-' (down) + 'premere' (to press). Originally meant only the physical action of pressing down, but expanded to psychological effects in the 14th century.
Interestingly, the economic term 'depression' comes from the same root—when an economy is 'pressed down,' it functions at a lower level, just like how depression 'presses down' on mood and motivation.
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