deputy

deputy
\ \ [16] A deputy is literally ‘someone who has been deputed to act on someone else’s behalf’. It represents a reformulation of the Middle English noun depute. This was borrowed from the past participle of Old French deputer (source of the English verb depute [15] and hence of deputation [16]), which in turn came from late Latin dēputāreassign, allot’. In classical times this meant literally ‘cut off’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix - ‘off’ and putāre, which meant ‘cut’ – as in amputate – as well as ‘esteem, consider, reckon, think’ – as in compute, dispute, impute, and repute).
\ \ Cf.AMPUTATE, COMPUTE, COUNT, DISPUTE, IMPUTE, PUTATIVE, REPUTE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • deputy — dep·u·ty / de pyə tē/ n pl ties [Middle French deputé person appointed to exercise authority, from past participle of deputer to appoint, depute] 1: a person appointed as a substitute with power to act 2: a second in command or assistant who usu …   Law dictionary

  • Deputy — may refer to: Steward (office) Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries, including: A member of a Chamber of Deputies A member of a National Assembly A member of the Dáil Éireann A member of the States of Guernsey or the States of… …   Wikipedia

  • deputy — dep u*ty (d[e^]p [ u]*t[y^]), n.; pl. {Deputies} (d[e^]p [ u]*t[i^]z). [F. d[ e]put[ e], fr. LL. deputatus. See {Depute}.] 1. One appointed as the substitute of another, and empowered to act for him, in his name or his behalf; a substitute in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • deputy — dep‧u‧ty [ˈdepjti] noun deputies PLURALFORM [countable] JOBS someone in an organization who is immediately below the rank of another important person, and who is officially in charge when that other person is not there: • He was appointed deputy …   Financial and business terms

  • Deputy — bezeichnet: einen Mitarbeiter des Sheriffs in der US amerikanischen Polizei Organisation, siehe Sheriff (Vereinigte Staaten) den Lord Deputy aka Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, der Repräsentant des englischen Königs den Deputy Supreme Allied… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • deputy — [dep′yo͞o tē, dep′yətē; dep′ət ē] n. pl. deputies [ME depute < Anglo Fr deputé, pp. of OFr deputer: see DEPUTE] 1. a person appointed to act as a substitute for, or as an assistant to, another 2. a member of any of certain national… …   English World dictionary

  • deputy — (n.) c.1400, one given the full power of an officer without holding the office, from Anglo Fr. deputé, noun use of pp. of M.Fr. députer appoint, assign (14c.), from L.L. deputare to destine, allot, in classical Latin to esteem, consider, consider …   Etymology dictionary

  • deputy — 1 attorney, *agent, factor, proxy Analogous words: substitute, surrogate (see RESOURCE) 2 *delegate, representative …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • deputy — [n] assistant, agent aide, ambassador, appointee, assembly member, backup, commissioner, councilor, delegate, dogcatcher*, factor, legate, lieutenant, minister, proxy, regent, replacement, representant, representative, secondin command, sub,… …   New thesaurus

  • deputy — ► NOUN (pl. deputies) 1) a person appointed to undertake the duties of a superior in the superior s absence. 2) a parliamentary representative in certain countries …   English terms dictionary

  • deputy — noun 1 second most important person ADJECTIVE ▪ acting ▪ former ▪ a former deputy chairman of the party ▪ chief VERB + DEPUTY ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

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