depute

English

Etymology

From French députer, from Latin deputo.

Pronunciation

• Verb:
  • IPA^(key): /dɪ.ˈpjuːt/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -uːt
• Noun:
  • IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.pjuːt/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -uːt

Verb

depute (third-person singular simple present deputes, present participle deputing, simple past and past participle deputed)

1. (obsolete) To assign (someone or something) to or for something.
2. To delegate (a task, etc.) to a subordinate.
   • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 229:

     Will Wyatt having moved up a notch, the project was deputed to a second team of producers whose judgement I didn't trust.

3. To deputize (someone), to appoint as deputy.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 2 Samuel 15:3:

     There is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.

   • 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

     Some persons, deputed by a meeting.

   • 2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian‎:

     Viewing the forces arrayed against him at the G20, President Vladimir Putin deputed Lavrov to attend the two-day event in his stead, and for a brief moment it appeared to have been too much.

4. To appoint; to assign; to choose.
   • c. 1675, Isaac Barrow, The Duty of Thanksgiving:

     The most conspicuous places in cities are usually deputed for the erection of statues.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

depute (plural deputes)

1. (Scotland) deputy

Derived terms

• sheriff-depute

Anagrams

• teed up

Portuguese

Verb

depute

1. inflection of deputar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈpute/
• Rhymes: -ute
• Syllabification: de‧pu‧te

Verb

depute

1. inflection of deputar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative