Learn English – Why is the term “depressed” often used to describe a button which is pressed

etymologytechnicalterminology

In several books that mention GUI, keyboard, or mouse buttons (e.g. the book Programming Windows by Charles Petzold), the authors refer to the state of a pressed button as depressed. Why is this term used instead of the word pressed, which has a simple and intuitive meaning?

Some alternative terms that could be a better fit are pushed, clicked, or activated. As someone who is not a native-English speaker, the term depressed is unintuitive to me because it resembles the opposite meaning: not pressed.

Best Answer

From TheFreeDictionary.com:

depression 1. a. The act of depressing. b. The condition of being depressed.

And the verb:

depress 4. to press or push down

So ... depressed works just fine for the state of a button being pushed in.

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