Etymology

deponent

D2E1P3O1N1E1N1T1

Today it means: Having an active meaning, but conjugating as though it were being used with a different voice (such as the passive). Full definition →

Latin dēpōnēns ← Proto-Italic *pozinō ← Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂pó
  9. Proto-Italic*po
  10. Proto-Indo-European*teḱ-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*tḱéytibf.
  12. Proto-Indo-European*tḱey-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*tḱinéti
  14. Proto-Italic*sinō
  15. Proto-Italic*pozinō
  16. Latinpōnō
  17. Latindēpōnō
  18. Latindēpōnēns
  19. English todaydeponent

From Latin dēpōnēns (“laying aside”), the present active participle of dēpōnō (“lay aside”), from dē- + pōnō (“put, place”). The name comes from the idea that such verbs were originally reflexive and then later "laid aside" their passive meanings.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.