repression
(rɪˈprɛʃən)
[ad. L. type *repressiōn-em, n. of action f. reprimĕre: see repress v.1 and cf. F. répression (15th c.).]
† 1. Capability or power of repressing. Obs.—1
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1038 And some so ful of furye is and despit That it sourmounteth his repressioun. |
2. a. The action of repressing, in senses of the verb; also, an instance of this.
| 1533 More Apol. xlix. Wks. 927/1 Any new order concerning heresies, with y⊇ chaunge of lawes before deuised for the repression of them. 1553 in Burnet Hist. Ref., Rec. ii. i. No. 56 Do such things for the Advancement of Justice, and for the repression and punishment of Malefactors. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xi. 472 But Ioue (that weighs aboue All humane pow'rs) to Aiax breast diuine repressions droue, And made him shun who shunn'd himself. 1648–9 Eikon Bas. 21 No declaration..from My self could take place, For the due repression of these Tumults. 1818 Bentham Parl. Reform 62 Repression of insolence is, therefore, in his situation prescribed by considerations [etc.]. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 109 That eastern religion whose essence is the repression of all action. |
† b. Med. (See quot.) Obs. rare—1.
| 1582 J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. i. xxvii. 30 The Feuer of Repression..is an alteration of the bloud, whiche is caused of beeyng ouer hott, and then colde. |
c. Psychol. The action, process, or result of suppressing into the unconscious or keeping out of the conscious mind unacceptable memories or desires. Also attrib.
| 1909 A. A. Brill tr. Freud's Sel. Papers on Hysteria iv. 88 If I could now make it probable that the idea became pathogenic in consequence of the exclusion and repression, the chain would seem complete. 1910 S. Freud in Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. XXI. 193, I called this hypothetical process ‘repression’ (Verdrängung), and considered it was proved by the undeniable existence of resistance. Ibid., One of my cases, in which the conditions and the utility of the repression process stand out clearly enough. 1930 R. Lehmann Note in Music vii. 274 Gerald was not free, not calm and balanced: quite the reverse—a tangle of passionate conflicts and repressions. 1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion i. 40, I always said his Lordship Suffered from what they call a kind of repression. 1954 R. F. C. Hull tr. Jung's Devel. of Personality in Coll. Wks. XVII. iv. 115 No breaking down of repressions can ever destroy true creativeness. 1973 J. G. Starke Validity of Psycho-Anal. ii. 14 In essence, repression is the mental process of rejecting and excluding material from consciousness. |
3. Biochem. The inhibition of enzyme synthesis by the action of a repressor on an operon.
| 1957 [see repressor 2]. 1959 Jrnl. Molecular Biol. I. 176 It now appears to be a general rule, for bacteria, that the formation of sequential enzyme sequences involved in the synthesis of essential metabolites is inhibited by their end product. The convenient term ‘repression’ was coined by Vogel to distinguish this effect from another, equally general, phenomenon: the control of enzyme activity by end products of metabolism. 1973 R. G. Krueger et al. Introd. Microbiol. xv. 437/2 Repression is distinct from feedback inhibition in that the former results in the cessation of enzyme synthesis whereas the latter leads to inactivation of an existing enzyme. |
Hence reˈpressionist, one who advocates repression or repressive measures.
| 1875 Good Words 266 The people, he said, did not take strong drinks, although they seemed to have no objection to them when they had an opportunity of receiving them—an argument for repressionists. 1888 Chicago Advance 9 Aug., Even political repressionists are practically turning moralists. |