Etymologically
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deposition

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deposicioun,[2][3] borrowed from Old French deposicion,[3][4][5] and directly borrowed from Latin dēpositiō (“a laying down, putting aside; testimony; burial”),[2][4][6][7] a noun of action from dēpositus, the past participle of dēpōnō (“to lay down, lay aside”).[3][7][4] The Anglo-Norman deposiciun, from the second quarter of the 13th century, already meant the taking down from the Cross, dethronement and a sworn legal statement.[8] The OED notes that the English noun is used as the noun of action of depone, depose and deposit,[4] and Etymonline that, though it properly belongs to deposit, it shares the senses of both deposit and depose.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The removal of a person from a high office or rank; dethronement: 1399, in the Rolls of Parliament,[4] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, a statement made under oath, dates from the early 15th century according to Etymonline;[3] the OED's first quotation, from Fabyan's chronicle, is from before 1513.[4] In art and devotion the Deposition is the taking down of Christ's body from the Cross, or a picture of it, recorded from before 1530.[4][9] The senses from deposit came later: the placing of something for safe keeping from 1592,[4] the act of depositing in general from the 1590s,[3] and the laying down of material by natural processes, and the deposit itself, from 1797–99.[4] Johnson (1755) listed public testimony, the degrading of a prince and, in canon law, the depriving of a clergyman of his office.[10]

Timeline

  • 1399 – the removal of a person from office; dethronement.[4]
  • a1513 – testimony on oath in a court of law.[4]
  • a1530 – the taking down of Christ's body from the Cross.[4]
  • 1592 – the placing of something for safe keeping.[4]
  • 1797 – a deposit, sediment.[4]
  • 1799 – the depositing of material by natural agency.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. In law, a testimony given under oath, especially a sworn statement taken down out of court for later use: The lawyers took the witness's deposition on Monday.[9][2][5]
  2. The removal of a person, such as a sovereign, from an office or position of power: the deposition of the king.[9][2][4]
  3. The process by which material is laid down by natural agency, as sediment, or the material so laid down.[9][2][4]
  4. The act of depositing something.[9][4]
  5. The taking down of Christ's body from the Cross, or a painting or sculpture of this.[9][4]

Word family

  • depositional

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.