express [LME] In the sense ‘to convey in words or by behaviour’, express originally meant ‘to press out, obtain by squeezing’, and its root is Latin pressare ‘to press’. Express [LME] meaning ‘intended for a particular purpose’ is from another Latin word meaning ‘to press’, primere, and is the source of express train and other uses that involve high speed. As early as 1845 an express train went ‘expressly’ or specifically to one particular place, not stopping at intermediate stations. This would have been a relatively fast train, and led to the word being interpreted as meaning ‘fast, rapid’.