repress

English

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Latin repressus, the perfect passive participle of reprimō (“I repress”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹəˈpɹɛs/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Verb

repress (third-person singular simple present represses, present participle repressing, simple past and past participle repressed)

1. (transitive) To forcefully prevent an upheaval from developing further.

   to repress rebellion or sedition

   to repress the first risings of discontent

2. (transitive, by extension) To check; to keep back.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, lines 542–544, page 37:

     Deſire of wine and all delicious drinks […] Thou couldſt repreſs,

Synonyms

• (forcefully preventing an upheaval from developing): to crush; to quell; to subdue; to suppress
• (to keep back): to restrain; to hold back

Related terms

• repression
• repressive
• repressor

Translations

forcefully prevent an upheaval from developing

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: zapaldu
• Bulgarian: потушавам (bg) (potušavam)
• Catalan: reprimir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: subpremi, sufoki
• Finnish: tukahduttaa (fi)
• French: réprimer (fr), opprimer (fr)
• Galician: reprimir (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: zurückdrängen (de), unterbinden (de), unterdrücken (de)
• Hungarian: elfojt (hu)
• Khmer: បង្ក្រាប (km) (bɑngkraap)
• Latin: reprimo
• Maori: kurupena (refers to feelings), whakakōmau, koropehu, tāmoe
• Persian: سرکوفتن‎ (sarkuftan), سرکوب کردن‎ (fa) (sarkub kardan)
• Portuguese: reprimir (pt)
• Russian: подавлять (ru) impf (podavljatʹ), сдерживать (ru) impf (sderživatʹ), подавить (ru) pf (podavitʹ), сдержать (ru) pf (sderžatʹ), усмирять (ru) impf (usmirjatʹ), усмирить (ru) pf (usmiritʹ), пресекать (ru) impf (presekatʹ), пресечь (ru) pf (presečʹ)
• Spanish: reprimir (es)
• Thai: กลั้น (th) (glân), ระงับ (th) (rá-ngáp)
• Tibetan: བཙན་གནོན་བྱས (btsan gnon byas)
• Tocharian B: mäl-
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Uyghur: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: adwthio

to keep back

• Bulgarian: сдържам (bg) (sdǎržam), възпирам (bg) (vǎzpiram)
• Catalan: reprimir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: deteni
• Finnish: pidättää (fi) (+ partitive)
• French: retenir (fr)
• Latin: reprimo
• Russian: сдерживать (ru) impf (sderživatʹ), сдерживаться (ru) impf (sderživatʹsja), сдержать (ru) pf (sderžatʹ), воздерживаться (ru) impf (vozderživatʹsja), воздержаться (ru) pf (vozderžatʹsja), подавлять (ru) impf (podavljatʹ), подавить (ru) pf (podavitʹ)
• Spanish: reprimir (es)

Etymology 2

re- +‎ press

Verb

repress (third-person singular simple present represses, present participle repressing, simple past and past participle repressed)

1. To press again.

   to repress a vinyl record

Noun

repress (plural represses)

1. A record pressed again; a repressing.
   • 2010, Clinton Heylin, Bootleg! The Rise And Fall Of The Secret Recording Industry:

     Save for the shows he actually taped — Dylan, Springsteen, Page & Plant and other kindred spirits — his own titles by 1994 were just represses of hard-to-find Japanese or American titles.

Anagrams

• Presser, presser