Origin: Latin suffix -sion
Great depression has 3 different meanings across 2 categories:
the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
a period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment
A major economic collapse characterized by mass unemployment and limited business activity that lasted from 1929 to 1940 in the US and a similar period in many other countries.