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compress [compress 词源字典]: compress: see press
[compress etymology, compress origin, 英语词源]
depress: depress: see press
espresso: espresso: [20] Etymologically, espresso is coffee that has been ‘pressed out’. The word comes from Italian caffè espresso, literally ‘pressed-out coffee’, which refers to the way in which the coffee is made by forcing pressurized steam or boiling water through the finely ground beans. Espresso is the past participle of esprimere ‘press out’, from Latin exprimere – which is also the source of English express.
express: express: [14] Something that is expressed is literally ‘pressed out’. The word comes via Old French from Vulgar Latin *expressāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and pressāre ‘press’. Its meaning developed metaphorically from ‘press out’ to ‘form by pressure’ (presumably applied originally to modelling in clay or some similar substance, and subsequently to sculpture and then painting), and finally to ‘make known in words’.

The Vulgar Latin verb was in fact moving in on territory already occupied by its classical Latin forerunner exprimere (source of French exprimer ‘express’ and perhaps of English sprain [17]). The past participle of this was expressus, used adjectivally for ‘prominent, distinct, explicit’. Old French took it over as expres and passed it on to English in the 14th century.

By now its meaning was moving towards ‘intended for a particular purpose’, and in the 19th century it was applied to ‘special’ trains (as in ‘football specials’). It did not take long, however, for this to slip via ‘train for people wanting to go to a particular place, and therefore not stopping anywhere else’ to ‘fast train’. Hence the modern sense of express, ‘fast’, was born.
=> espresso, press, sprain
impresario: impresario: [18] Impresario has no etymological connection with ‘impressing’ people (often though it is mistakenly spelled impressario). It was borrowed from Italian, where it was a derivative of impresa ‘undertaking’. This in turn came from the verb imprendere ‘undertake’, which goes back to a hypothetical Vulgar Latin *imprendere (source of the archaic English emprise ‘enterprise’ [13]), a compound based on Latin prendere ‘take’. Hence an impresario is literally someone who ‘undertakes’ something.
impress: impress: see press
oppress: oppress: see press
presage: presage: see seek
presbyterian: presbyterian: see priest
present: present: [13] The Latin adjective praesēns ‘at hand, now here’ originated as the present participle of praeesse ‘be before one’, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front’ and esse ‘be’. English acquired it via Old French present, the same route as was taken by its derivative praesentia on its way to English presence [14]. The use of the related noun present for ‘gift’ originated in Old French in the concept of ‘bringing something into someone’s presence’, and hence of giving it to them. The verb present [13] comes from the Latin derivative praesentāre.
preserve: preserve: [14] The -serve of preserve comes from Latin servāre ‘keep safe’ (no relation to servīre ‘serve’, but source also of English conserve, observe, and reserve). Combination with prae- ‘before’ produced medieval Latin praeservāre ‘guard beforehand, take steps to ward off possible harm’, which reached English via Old French preserver.
=> conserve, observe, reserve
president: president: [14] A president is etymologically simply someone who ‘presides’. The word comes via Old French president from Latin praesidēns, the present participle of praesidēre ‘superintend’ (it literally meant ‘sit in front of’ – it was formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and sedēre ‘sit’ – and it has given English preside [17]). Another Latin derivative was the noun praesidium ‘garrison, fortification’, which English has acquired via Russian prezídium as presidium [20].
=> preside, presidium, sit
press: press: English has two words press. The commoner, and older, ‘exert force, push’ [14], comes via Old French presser from Latin pressāre, a verb derived from the past participle of premere ‘press’ (source of English print). The corresponding noun press (which actually arrived in English a century earlier in the now archaic sense ‘crowd’) originated as a derivative of the Old French verb.

Derived verbs in English include compress [14], depress [14], express, impress [14], oppress [14], repress [14], and suppress [14]. The other press, ‘force’ [16], is now found virtually only in the expression ‘press into service’ and in the compound press-gang [17]. It originally denoted ‘compel to join the navy, army, etc’, and was an alteration, under the influence of press ‘exert force’, of prest ‘pay recruits’.

This was a verbal use of Middle English prest ‘money given to recruits’, which was borrowed from Old French prest ‘loan’. This in turn was a derivative of the verb prester ‘lend’, which went back to Latin praestāre ‘provide’, a compound formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and stāre ‘stand’. Related to praestāre was Latin praestō ‘at hand’, from which have evolved French prêt ‘ready’ and Italian and Spanish presto ‘quick’ (English borrowed the Italian version as presto [16]).
=> compress, depress, express, impress, oppress, print, repress, suppress; presto, station
prestige: prestige: [17] As opponents of semantic change are fond of pointing out, prestige once meant ‘trick, illusion’, and its use until the 19th century was usually derogatory. It comes via French prestige from Latin praestigiae ‘illusions produced by a conjurer or juggler’, an alteration of an unrecorded *praestrigiae. This would have been a derivative of praestringere ‘blindfold’, hence ‘confuse the sight, dazzle’, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and stringere ‘bind’ (source of English strict). The modern approbatory meaning appears to have been reintroduced from French.
=> strict
presto: presto: see press
represent: represent: [14] English borrowed represent from Latin repraesentāre, which meant ‘present again, bring back’, hence ‘show’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘back, again’ and praesentāre, source of English present. The notion of ‘standing in the place of another’ is a post-classical development.
=> present
repress: repress: see press
suppress: suppress: see press
acupressure (n.): 1859, from Latin acus "needle" (see acuity) + pressure (n.).
antidepressant (n.): 1876, from anti- + depressant.
compress (v.): late 14c., "to press (something) together," from Old French compresser "compress, put under pressure," from Latin compressare "to press together," frequentative of comprimere "to squeeze," from com- "together" (see com-) + premere "to press" (see press (v.1)). Related: Compressed; compressing.
compress (n.): 1590s in the surgical sense, from compress (v.).
compression (n.): c. 1400, from Middle French compression (14c.), from Latin compressionem (nominative compressio) "a pressing together," noun of action from past participle stem of comprimere "to squeeze" (see compress (v.)). Related: Compressional. Compressional wave is attested from 1887.
compressor (n.): 1839, from Latin compressor, agent noun from comprimere "to squeeze" (see compress (v.)). As a type of surgical instrument, from 1870. As short for air compressor, from 1874.
cypress (n.): type of evergreen tree (sacred to Pluto), late 12c., from Old French cipres (12c., Modern French cyprès), from Late Latin cypressus, from Latin cupressus, from Greek kyparissos, probably from an unknown pre-Greek Mediterranean language. Perhaps related to Hebrew gopher, name of the tree whose wood was used to make the ark (Gen. vi:14).
decompress (v.): 1905, from de- + compress (v.). Related: Decompressed; decompressing.
decompression (n.): 1905, from de- + compression.
depress (v.): early 14c., "put down by force," from Old French depresser, from Late Latin depressare, frequentative of Latin deprimere "press down," from de- "down" (see de-) + premere "to press" (see press (v.1)). Meaning "push down physically" is from early 15c.; that of "deject, make gloomy" is from 1620s; economic sense of "lower in value" is from 1878. Related: Depressed; depressing.
depressant (n.): "sedative," 1876 as a noun, 1887 as an adjective; see depress + -ant.
depression (n.): late 14c. as a term in astronomy, from Old French depression (14c.) or directly from Latin depressionem (nominative depressio), noun of action from past participle stem of deprimere "to press down, depress" (see depress).

Attested from 1650s in the literal sense; meaning "dejection, depression of spirits" is from early 15c. (as a clinical term in psychology, from 1905); meteorological sense is from 1881 (in reference to barometric pressure); meaning "a lowering or reduction in economic activity" was in use by 1826; given a specific application (with capital D-) by 1934 to the one that began worldwide in 1929. For "melancholy, depression" an Old English word was grevoushede.
depressive (adj.): 1610s, from Latin depress-, past participle stem of deprimere (see depress) + -ive. In psychology, from 1905.
empress (n.): mid-12c., emperice, from Old French emperesse, fem. of emperere (see emperor). Queen Victoria in 1876 became one as "Empress of India."
espresso (n.): coffee made under steam pressure, 1945, from Italian (caffe) espresso, from espresso "pressed out," past participle of esprimere, from Latin exprimere "press out, squeeze out" (see express (v.1)). In reference to the steam pressure.
express (v.1): late 14c., "represent in visual arts; put into words," from Old French espresser, expresser "press, squeeze out; speak one's mind" (Modern French exprimer), Medieval Latin expressare, frequentative of Latin exprimere "represent, describe, portray, imitate, translate," literally "to press out" (source also of Italian espresso); the sense evolution here perhaps is via an intermediary sense such as "clay, etc., that under pressure takes the form of an image," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pressare "to press, push," from Latin premere (see press (v.1)). Related: Expressed; expresses; expressing.
express (adj.): late 14c., "stated explicitly, not implied, clearly made known" from Old French espres, expres (13c.), from Latin expressus "clearly presented, distinct, articulated precisely," past participle of exprimere (see express (v.)). Also late 14c. as an adverb, "specially, on purpose;" it also doubled as an adverb in Old French. An express train (1841) originally was one that ran to a certain station.
express (v.2): "to send by express service," 1716, from express (n.).
express (n.): 1610s, "special messenger," from express (adj.). Sense of "business or system for sending money or parcels" is by 1794.
expression (n.): early 15c., "action of pressing out;" later "action of manifesting a feeling" (mid-15c.); "a putting into words" (late 15c.); from Middle French expression (14c.), from Late Latin expressionem (nominative expressio) "expression, vividness," in classical Latin "a pressing out, a projection," noun of action from past participle stem of exprimere "represent, describe," literally "press out" (see express (v.)). Meaning "an action or creation that expresses feelings" is from 1620s. Of the face, from 1774. Occasionally the word also was used literally, for "the action of squeezing out." Related: Expressional.
expressionist (adj.): 1850 in reference to an artist who seeks to portray the emotional experience of the subject, from expression (which was used in the fine arts by 1715 with a sense "way of expressing") + -ist. Modern sense is from 1914, from expressionism (from 1908 as an artistic style or movement). As a noun from 1880. Related: Expressionistic.
expressionless (adj.): 1831, "giving no expression," from expression + -less. Shelley used it with a sense of "unexpressed" (1819).
expressive (adj.): c. 1400, "tending to press out," from French expressif, from expres "clear, plain," from stem of Latin exprimere "to press out," also "to represent, describe" (see express (v.)). Meaning "full of expression" is from 1680s. Related: Expressively; expressiveness.
expressly (adv.): late 14c., "in detail, plainly," from express (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "for the express purpose" is c. 1600.
expresso (n.): variant of espresso.
expressway (n.): by 1945, American English, from express (adj.) + way (n.). Express highway is recorded by 1938.
impresario (n.): 1746, from Italian impresario "operatic manager," literally "undertaker (of a business)," from impresa "undertaking," fem. of impreso, past participle of imprendere "undertake," from Vulgar Latin imprendere, from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, onto" (see in- (2)) + prehendere "to grasp" (see prehensile).
imprescriptible (adj.): "inalienable, not subject to prescription," 1560s, French imprescriptible (16c.) or a native formation from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + Latin praescriptus, past participle of praescribere "to write beforehand" (see prescribe). Usually with right. Alternative imprescribable is attested from 1887.
impress (v.): late 14c., "have a strong effect on the mind or heart," from Latin impressus, past participle of imprimere "press into or upon, stamp," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + premere "to press" (see press (v.1)). Literal sense of "to apply with pressure, make a permanent image in, indent, imprint" is from early 15c. in English. Sense of "to levy for military service" is from 1590s, a meaning more from press (v.2). Related: Impressed; impressing.
impress (n.): "act of impressing," also "characteristic mark," 1590s, from impress (v.).
impressed (adj.): early 15c., "pressed or forced upon" (the mind), past participle adjective from impress (v.).
impression (n.): late 14c., "mark produced by pressure," also "image produced in the mind or emotions," from Old French impression "print, stamp; a pressing on the mind," from Latin impressionem (nominative impressio) "onset, attack," figuratively "perception," literally "a pressing into," from imprimere (see impress). Meaning "act or process of indenting" is early 15c.; that of "printing of a number of copies" is from 1570s. Meaning "belief, vague notion" (as in under the impression) is from 1610s.