Deflation — From Latin/English to English | etymologist.ai
deflation
/dɪˈfleɪʃən/·noun·1891·Established
Origin
'Deflation' is literally lettingtheair out of inflation — first physical, then economic.
Definition
A general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit; the action of deflating or being deflated.
The Full Story
Latin/English19th centurywell-attested
Formed in English from the prefix 'de-' (down, away from, reversal) and 'inflation,' on the model of the Latin pair 'dēflāre' / 'īnflāre' (to blow away / to blow into). The physical sense — the letting-out of air or gas from an inflated object — is attested from 1891. The economic sense — a sustained fall in the general price level, the opposite of inflation — followed almost immediately in the 1890s, as economists needed
to let the air out. The economic metaphor is strikingly precise: an economy's money supply or price level is conceived as a balloon that can be inflated (blown up) or deflated (blown down). The geological sense of deflation — the removal of loose surface particles by wind erosion — emerged independently in the early 20th century, applying the same blowing-away metaphor to landscapes. Key roots: dē- (Latin: "down, away from, reversal"), flāre (Latin: "to blow").