depression

de•pres•sion

[[t]dɪˈprɛʃ ən[/t]] n.

1) the act of depressing

2) psi the state of being depressed

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

4) sadness; gloom; dejection

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

6) pat a low state of functional activity

7) dullness or inactivity, as of trade

8) bus a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely

9) amh. the Depression, the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock market crash in October 1929 and continuing through most of the 1930s

10) astron. the angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon

11) sur the angle between the line from an observer or surveying instrument to an object below either of them and a horizontal line

12) gel an area surrounded by higher land, ordinarily having interior drainage and not conforming to the valley of a single stream

13) mer an area of low atmospheric pressure

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Etymology: 1350–1400; ME (< AF) < ML, LL