depono

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [deːˈpoː.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈpɔː.no]^[1]

Forms

dēpōnō (present infinitive dēpōnere, perfect active dēposuī or dēposīvī, supine dēpositum or dēpostum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from dē- “down, away” and pōnō “to put”.^[2][1][3] Plautus and Catullus have a perfect ⟨dēposīvī⟩, and Lewis and Short cite an infinitive ⟨dēposīsse⟩.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of laying the body to rest and of depositing money.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lay down a burden, as Cicero's onus dēpōnere and Caesar's unloading of pack animals, to lay the body down to rest, of animals to drop young, and to lay down arms in surrender.^[2][6] It meant to take off clothes, as in Suetonius, to have one's hair cut, to take off the fire, to demolish, as in Ulpian, and in Ovid to plant seedlings.^[2] It meant to put in a place of safety, to lay a body in a tomb, and in Plautus to deposit money or property for safekeeping, hostages, and to entrust.^[2] From Cicero it meant to give up a title or office, an occupation or an attitude, and animam dēpōnere to die, as in Nepos, and in Gaius to dismiss an employee.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to take or throw down, remove, and to give evidence, make a deposition.^[7] Its participle dēpositus gave English deposit in the 1620s, and its present participle gave the grammatical term English deponent in the mid-15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of resting and of depositing.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of laying down burdens and offices.^[2][6][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of hostages.^[2][5]
• 1620s – English deposit is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lay down, put down; to lay down arms.^[2]
2. To take off; to have cut.^[2]
3. To demolish; to plant.^[2]
4. To put in a safe place; to bury.^[2]
5. To deposit; to entrust.^[2]
6. To give up, resign, animam dēpōnere, to die.^[2]
7. To dismiss.^[2]
8. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To give evidence, depose.^[7]

Word family

• dēpōnefaciō
• dēpositiō
• depositiuus
• dēpositor
• dēpositum
• dēpositus

Related words

• antepōnō
• appōnō
• circumpōnō
• compōnō
• contrāpōnō
• dēpositārius
• dispōnō
• expōnō
• impōnō
• interpōnō
• pōnō
• English deposit
• English deponent

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com