Repress

Repress is a verb with several related meanings centered on holding back or suppressing. It can refer to keeping something from being expressed, seen, or acted upon, such as repressing emotions, information, or impulses. It can also mean to restrain or prevent a process, action, or response by force or authority.

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from the French réprimer, from Latin reprimere, meaning to press back. The related noun repression refers to the act or condition of repressing something, as well as to a psychological defense mechanism in which distressing material is kept out of conscious awareness.

Psychology and terminology: In Freudian psychoanalysis, repression is a defense mechanism that unconsciously blocks upsetting thoughts, memories, or desires from conscious awareness. Contemporary psychology often distinguishes repression from suppression (a conscious withholding) and notes that evidence for a distinct unconscious repression mechanism is mixed and debated. In broader clinical and research contexts, the term may be used descriptively to discuss withholding or dampening of emotional or cognitive responses, rather than as a formal mechanism.

Social and biological contexts: Politically, repression refers to actions by a state or authority to limit civil liberties, including censorship, coercion, surveillance, and punishment of dissent. In biology and genetics, repression can describe regulatory processes in which a repressor protein inhibits gene transcription, reducing expression of target genes.

See also: Suppression, censorship, defense mechanisms, gene regulation, political dissent.