Compression

How to spell compression

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce compression

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does compression mean?

1. nounThe act of pressing or squeezing something into a smaller volume, or the resulting state of being pressed.

Compression in a sentence

• The engine relies on the compression of fuel and air inside each cylinder.

• The paramedic applied chest compression to keep the blood circulating.

Where does compression come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin compressio, a noun formed from the verb comprimere, which literally meant 'to press together'. That verb was built from com-, meaning 'together', and premere, meaning 'to press' or 'to squeeze', the same root that gives English 'press', 'pressure', and 'express'. English took the word in through Old French and Latin during the late medieval period, when it referred broadly to the act of squeezing or pressing something into a smaller space. From that physical sense it later spread into medicine, engineering, and computing, where it describes reducing the size of data. The doubled 's' and the '-ssion' ending both trace straight back to that Latin premere root, which is worth remembering because the trap is choosing '-ssion' rather than '-tion'.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• press (to press)
• -ion (noun suffix)