DEPONENT, adjective 1. Laying down. 2. A deponent verb, in the Latin Grammar, is a verb which has a passive termination, with an active signification, and wants one of the passive participles; as, loquor, to speak. DEPONENT, . 1. One who deposes, or gives a deposition under oath; one who gives written testimony to be used as evidence in a court of justice. With us in New England, this word is never used, I believe, for a witness who gives oral testimony in court. In England, a deponent is one who gives answers under oath to interrogatories exhibited in chancery. 2. A deponent verb.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI