depressiondepression

Depression comes from Latin dēpressiō ‘a pressing down, a sinking down, a depression’, and goes back to premō.

1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō¹‘to press’
2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēprimō¹‘to press down’
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēpressiō²‘a pressing down’
4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400depression²
5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500depression²
6. Englishearliest quotation 1879depression²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Latin depressio
2. ² Wiktionary, English depression
3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Richard Jefferies, London: Smith: “It was not far from the house; but the…”.