You all know express trains, express mail, express elevators, etc. Etymologically, the word derives from Latin exprimere, the past participle of which is expressus. This verb has pretty much the same meaning as its English descendant, to express: To convey a certain meaning. How did this verb adopt the meaning of speed? And, speaking of it, how does the Italian coffee espresso, which must have something to do with this root as well, come in?
I will let the linguists answer this but the family of words that come from exprimere in spanish, mean to squeeze. I can see where that would lead to coffee. To hurrying, it would be a little more of a stretch but not impossibly so.
My WAG would be that it originally referred to trains which had only one “expressed” destintion, meaning that it wouldn’t make any extra stops along the way, meaning it would get there faste.
Diogenes the Cynic has it right.
Here is the listing at The Etymology Online Dictionary
Note also that “express” train doesn’t necessarily mean a train that travels faster than usual; it just means fewer stops than usual. We have express buses in L.A. and believe me, they are anything but fast.
Dogs have anal glands near the anus, which “express” smelly fluid to mark the spot where the dung is left. My dog’s glands got plugged up, and the vet showed me how to “express” the stinky brown stuff, which squirted across the room onto a cabinet. :eek: Picturing that along with an image of Madonna singing Express Yourself brings an involuntary shudder. :eek:
I just took an express elevator last night to the top of a so-called ritzy restaurant. It only went to the top floor between the hours of 5 to 10pm- the hours of the restaurant. 
The food was 
Espresso coffee has nothing to do with “express”, except a similarity in spelling. Its meaning relates to the fact that the coffee is made by exposing finely ground coffee to steam pressure.
regards
FML
Are you sure it doesn’t have anything to do with “pressing it” as it is pressed through the grounds as opposed to just letting it percolate?
Yes; that’s the similarity between the two words: the “press” part.
I believe that in 18th century England (i.e. well before trains) this term was used for the service of rapidly delivering an individual letter directly to the addressee for a premium price. It’s the same sense of the word as in “Pony Express”, though of course that service came much later.
That’s an interesting bit of trivia. Have you got a cite?
-FrL-
The OED says
Express messenger has left such a trail that a new term is around for the meaning in the OED citations: missile courier. Is that common in other places?
But what about the es- prefix? If it’s derived from Latin ex-, meaning out, then “espresso” comes entirely from the same roots as “express.”