It means it washes it for a shorter time and at a medium agitation level. Not as short or as low as for delicates, but shorter and lower than for regular. The reason for this is that too much agitation or agitation for too long a period of time can place to much stress on the permanent press fabric and cause it to then wrinkle, or wrinkle more than it otherwise would.
That is the cycle you use for your clothes that don't require ironing. These clothes are known as permanent press and generally hold their shape because they are chemically processed to resist wrinkles.
It's for clothes that, supposedly, don't get wrinkled. The cycles are shorter, and the spin is slower.
it's from when most clothes were cotton and the new materials made from chemicals couldn't be agitated as strong as cotton could be. It's a gentler cycle than normal cycle and has a second rinse cycle.
