depósito

Forms

depósito m (plural depósitos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēpositum (“something deposited”), the neuter of dēpositus, past participle of dēpōnō (“to put down, lay aside”).^[2][1][3] Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of poner, with deponer, depositar and depositario.^[4][5]

The Latin verb is formed from dē- (“down, away”) and pōnō (“to place, put”).^[1][6] De Vaan derives the simple verb from Proto-Italic *po-sinō (“to put down”), a compound of the verb that is sinō (“to let”).^[7] The English word deposit has the same Latin source.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH has a first hit in the Libro del cavallero Cifar (1300–05), whose text survives in a late 15th-century copy: a man who no estava en estado para que pudiese guardar depósito de ninguno “was in no state to keep anyone's deposit”.^[8] The first hits in contemporary manuscripts are Juan Fernández de Heredia's translation of Plutarch's Lives (1379–84), with the treasures laid up in the temples: la multitut de los depositos “the multitude of the deposits”.^[8] The DTME dates the word from 1293, and Corominas from Nebrija.^[9][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija defined depósito as “what is entrusted”, Latin depositum.^[10] In the Americas the word appears from 1533, in Peru, for a store of firewood and maize, and in Mexico in 1537 for the depósitos de encomienda.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades had the place where towns kept deposits in safety, the thing deposited, and a tomb.^[12] The Academy added depósito de aguas “reservoir” in 1817, and its 1884 edition put “the act of depositing” first.^[13][14]

Later senses are a sediment, the contract of deposit in law, the fuel or fluid tank of a vehicle and a military depot.^[2] Moliner adds money deposited in a bank, natural accumulations of material, and, in Argentina, Cuba and El Salvador, the cistern of a lavatory.^[15] In Honduras, Nicaragua and Ecuador a depósito is a wholesale outlet for beer, soft drinks or gas bottles, and in Puerto Rico a police lockup.^[16]

Timeline

• 1293 – first record, according to the DTME.^[9]
• 1300–05 – the Cifar (in a late 15th-century copy).^[8]
• 1379–84 – Juan Fernández de Heredia's translation of Plutarch's Lives.^[8]
• 1406–11 – the Crónica de Juan II speaks of money put into a deposit.^[8]
• 1495 – Nebrija records depósito, depositar and depositario.^[4][5]
• 1533 – first record in the Americas, in Peru.^[11]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary has depósito de aguas.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology Del lat. depositum.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of depositing; a deposit.^[2][1]
2. A thing deposited, especially a sum of money placed in a bank.^[2][15]
3. A place or container where something is kept: a store, warehouse, depot or reservoir.^[2][1]
4. The sediment of a liquid; matter laid down by a natural process.^[2][15][1]
5. (law) A contract by which someone undertakes to keep a thing on another's behalf.^[2]
6. (mechanics) A fluid tank in a vehicle: Se quedaron con el depósito vacío en plena autopista.^[2]
7. (military) A depot where recruits who cannot go at once into active service are gathered.^[2]
8. (Spain) A car pound.^[1]
9. (Puerto Rico) A lockup for people held for a short time.^[16]

Related words

• deponer
• deposición
• depositar
• depositario
• poner
• Latin dēpositum
• English deposit

Usage notes

Depósito de cadáveres is a mortuary or morgue.^[2][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. depósito
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. depósito
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 607
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. poner
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. depósito
9. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. depósito
10. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. depósito
11. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. depósito
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 286
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 348
15. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. depósito
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. depósito