Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “repressed” come from?

Repressed comes from Middle English and Old French re- combined with Latin premere, meaning "to press," with the prefix re- indicating repetition or pressure applied again.

repressed (English): simple past tense and past participle of repress;...

Definitions

  1. simple past tense and past participle of repress;...

Ancestry of “repressed”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishrepressTo forcefully prevent an upheaval from developing...
2Englishre-again, anew; a completive or intensification of...
3Middle Englishre-—
4Old Frenchre-re-
5Latinrĕ-—
6Latinprōdūcō—
7Latinprō-—
8Proto-Italic*pro-—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
11Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “repressed”

  • unrepressed
  • repressedly
  • nonrepressed
  • hyperrepressed
  • unrepressedly
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →