Where does “compress” come from?
Compress comes from Old French compresser, from Late Latin compressare, from Latin compressus, the past participle of comprimere, meaning to press together.
compress (English): To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or...
Definitions
- To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or...
Ancestry of “compress”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | compresse | — |
| 2 | Late Latin | compressare | to press hard/together |
| 3 | Latin | compressus | compressed, restrained, repressed |
| 4 | Latin | comprimō | to compress (squeeze together) |
| 5 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 6 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 7 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 11 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 12 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 13 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 14 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 15 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |