Etymograph

English

press

Press comes from Middle English presse ‘throng, crowd’, from Old French presse, from presser ‘to press’, from Latin pressō, ultimately from premō ‘to press’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō1as premere, past participle‘to press’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressus1‘pressed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressō1‘to press’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400presser1‘to press’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400presse1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500presse1‘throng, crowd, clothespress’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597press1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English press
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “I have misused the king's press.”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremōWiktionary, English pressas premere, past participle‘to press’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressusWiktionary, English press‘pressed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressōWiktionary, English press‘to press’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400presserWiktionary, English press‘to press’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400presseWiktionary, English press
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500presseWiktionary, English press‘throng, crowd, clothespress’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597pressWiktionary, English press. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “I have misused the king's press.”

The story

Chiefly displaced native Middle English thring (‘press, crowd, throng’) (from Old English þring (‘a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with press, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to push, beat, press’

  • first ← fyrest ← *furist ← *furistaz ← *furai
  • before ← before//bifore ← beforan ← foran ← *furai
  • support ← supporten ← supporter ← supportō ← portō
  • far ← ferre ← *ferrai ← *per-nóy
  • per
  • further ← forþor ← *furþer
  • report ← reporten ← reporter ← reportāre ← porto
  • fear ← feer ← fǣr ← *fērō
  • opportunity ← opportunité ← opportūnitās ← opportūnus ← portus
  • private ← privat ← prīvātus ← prīvō ← prīvus
  • price ← pris ← pretium ← *pretjom ← *pr-é-ti ~ *pr-ó-ti
  • practice

274 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from premō →

Another origin of press

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-‘to push, beat, press’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr-es-‘to press’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pres-uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō‘to press’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressus‘pressed, having been pressed, squeezed’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpressāre
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400presser‘to press’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pressen‘to crowd, thring, press’
  9. Englishtodaypress

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “press”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin premō / press