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Where does the word "pressure" come from? It comes from Latin pressura, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
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Where does the word "pressure" come from? It comes from Latin pressura, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
Pressure’s story begins in Latin: pressura meant “a pressing, squeezing.” A pressing, from premere (to press). It reached English by 1300s as pressure. Settled as the physics word for force applied over an area. Today, pressure means the force exerted over a given area, or a feeling of stress.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient pressura "a pressing, squeezing", a pressing, from premere (to press).
- Stage 2 · English · 1300s pressure "force applied over a given area", settled as the physics word for force applied over an area.