Other forms: expressed, expressing, expresses
To express something is to get what is inside you out where it can be seen — into words, a face, a piece of music. Saying you are sorry and meaning it; a shrug that expresses more than a paragraph would.
You express an opinion, a view, doubt, concern, thanks, sympathy or interest, and children learn to express themselves. The noun expression does double duty: the wording someone chose, and the look on a face. Then there is the other express, a separate word in the same coat — an express train that stops almost nowhere, express delivery, and 'the express' meaning the fast service itself. As an adjective it can also mean stated outright: her express wishes, express permission, with no speed in it at all. And expressly means deliberately and in so many words — 'you were expressly told not to'.
1verbexpressTo put a thought or feeling into words, a look, or a work of art.~43%
“He struggled to express what the year had been like.”
2verbsqueezeTo squeeze a liquid out of something.~2%
“The oil is expressed from the olives without heat.”
3adjectivefastFast, and stopping for little on the way.~22%
“We took the express train and were there by nine.”
4adjectivestatedStated plainly and directly.~33%
“The photographs were used against her express wishes.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 9 sentences found in the wild and placed 9 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Latin expressus is the past participle of exprimere, the verb for pressing out, and English took it by way of French exprès. To express a thought is to press it out of yourself; the same picture stays literal in oil expressed from olives.
Latin
expressus
French
exprès
English, today
express
From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA