depression

[dih-presh-uhn]

noun

1. the act of depressing.

2. the state of being depressed.

3. a depressed or sunken place or part; an area lower than the surrounding surface.

4. sadness; gloom; dejection.

   Synonyms: despondency, discouragement

5. Psychiatry.,  a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.

6. dullness or inactivity, as of trade.

7. Economics.,  a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity.

8. the Depression. Great Depression.

9. Pathology.,  a low state of vital powers or functional activity.

10. Astronomy.,  the angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon; negative altitude.

11. Surveying.,  angle of depression.

12. Physical Geography.,  an area completely or mostly surrounded by higher land, ordinarily having interior drainage and not conforming to the valley of a single stream.

13. Meteorology.,  an area of low atmospheric pressure.

Depression

¹

/ dɪˈprɛʃən /

noun

1. Also known as: the Great Depression.  the Slump. the worldwide economic depression of the early 1930s, when there was mass unemployment

depression

²

/ dɪˈprɛʃən /

noun

1. the act of depressing or state of being depressed

2. a depressed or sunken place or area

3. a mental disorder characterized by extreme gloom, feelings of inadequacy, and inability to concentrate

4. pathol an abnormal lowering of the rate of any physiological activity or function, such as respiration

5. an economic condition characterized by substantial and protracted unemployment, low output and investment, etc; slump

6. Also called: cyclone.  low. meteorol a large body of rotating and rising air below normal atmospheric pressure, which often brings rain

7. (esp in surveying and astronomy) the angular distance of an object, celestial body, etc, below the horizontal plane through the point of observation Compare elevation

depression

1. A geographic area, such as a sinkhole or basin, that is lower than its surroundings.

2. A mood disorder characterized by an inability to experience pleasure, difficulty in concentrating, disturbance of sleep and appetite, and feelings of sadness, guilt, and helplessness.

3. A reduction in the activity of a physiological process, such as respiration.

4. A region of low atmospheric pressure. Low pressure systems result in precipitation, ranging from mild to severe in intensity.

5. See also cyclone

depression

1. A period of drastic decline in the national economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment. The best known of such periods is the Great Depression, which occurred in the 1930s.

Other Word Forms

• antidepression adjective
• minidepression noun
• nondepression noun
• postdepression adjective
• predepression noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Depression¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Medieval Latin dēpressiōn- (stem of dēpressiō ), Late Latin: “a pressing down,” equivalent to Latin dēpress(us) + -iōn- noun suffix; depress, -ion

Example Sentences

That version of the Fed proved unequal to managing macroeconomic policy as the Great Depression deepened.

From Los Angeles Times

During the Great Depression, the Reconstruction Finance Corp., a Hoover creation that lived well into Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, took preferred shares in numerous impaired banks in return for capital infusions they needed to survive.

From Los Angeles Times

The New Deal coalition under President Franklin Roosevelt managed to merge the party’s urban white ethnic base with an expert reformer class in Washington that defeated both the Great Depression and Nazi Germany.

From Salon

In the modern era, housing construction across Los Angeles peaked twice, once before the Great Depression and then in a postwar boom.

From Los Angeles Times

The Great Depression of the 1930s was incomparably worse than anything the country has experienced since then, and it did not cause voting majorities to opt for a dictator.

From Salon