depressor

From depress +‎ -or.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈpɹɛs.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈpɹɛs.ɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɛsə(ɹ)

depressor (plural depressors or (muscle) depressores)

1. Anything that depresses:
   1. (anatomy) Any of several muscles whose contraction pulls down a part of the body.

      Hyponyms: depressor anguli oris, depressor labii inferioris, depressor septi nasi, depressor supercilii, tongue depressor

      Antonym: levator

   2. (neuroanatomy, physiology) A nerve or nerve fiber that decreases the activity or the tone of the organ or the part it innervates, such as lowering the blood pressure.

      Hyponym: vasodepressor

   3. An instrument used to push something out of the way during an examination.

• depressor septi

• “depressor”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “depressor”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

From dēprimō (“I press down, weigh down frequently”) (supine dēpressum) +‎ -tor (“-er”, agent noun suffix).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /deːˈpres.sor/, [d̪eːˈprɛs̠ːɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈpres.sor/, [d̪eˈprɛsːor]

dēpressor m (genitive dēpressōris); third declension (Late Latin)

1. that which presses down or depresses; depressor

Third-declension noun.