Oppression, n.
Etymology: [F., fr. L. oppressio.]
1. The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed.
2. That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny. "The multitude of oppressions." Job xxxv. 9.
3. A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude; as, an oppression of spirits; an oppression of the lungs. There gentlee Sleep First found me, and with soft oppression seized My drowsed sense. Milton.
4. Ravishment; rape. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Shades of meaning
Fernald lists oppression only as an antonym, under liberty.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.
Synonyms
none given