depression
Pronunciation: /dɪˈpɹɛʃən/
The English word “depression” has 8 meanings listed here.
noun
- A state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future; any of several mental disorders with this state of mind as a central feature.
- A period of low morale or unhappiness (a period of experiencing the above-mentioned state of mind) which lasts longer than several weeks and may include ideation of self-inflicted injury or suicide.
- An area that is lower in topography than its surroundings.
- An area of lowered air pressure that generally brings moist weather, sometimes promoting hurricanes and tornadoes.
- A period of major economic contraction.
- Four consecutive quarters of negative, real GDP growth (for example, this operational definition is used by the US NBER and many other writers).
- The act of lowering or pressing something down.
- A lowering, in particular a reduction in a particular biological variable or the function of an organ, in contrast to elevation.
Etymology
From Middle English depression, depressioun, from Old French depression, from Latin dēpressiō. Equivalent to depress + -ion.
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More English words
- depressing
- depressingly
- depressingness
- Depression
- Depression cake
- Depression glass
- depressional
- depressionary
About this dictionary
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.