Force per unit area. The simplest situation to consider is when a force is uniformly distributed over a plane surface, the direction of the force being perpendicular to the surface. Suppose that a rectangular box, of length a and width b, has weight mg. Then the area of the base is ab, and the gravitational force creates a pressure of mg/(ab) acting at each point of the ground on which the box rests.
Now consider a liquid of density ρ at rest. The weight of liquid supported by a horizontal surface of area ΔA situated at a depth h is ρ(ΔA)hg. The resulting pressure (in excess of atmospheric pressure) at each point of this horizontal surface at a depth h is ρgh. More general analysis, involving elemental regions, defines pressure as a scalar field in the liquid as a function of position and time.
Pressure has dimensions ML−1 T−2, and the SI unit of measurement is the pascal.