ˌdepəˈzishən also ˌdēp- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English & Late Latin; Middle English deposicioun dismissal, testimony, from Late Latin deposition-, depositio act of putting down, laying away, dismissal, testimony, burial, from Late Latin & Latin depositus (past participle of Late Latin deponere to remove from office or authority & Latin, to lay aside, put down) + Latin -ion-, -io -ion — more at depone
1. : the act of deposing or the process of being deposed (as a sovereign from a throne) : deprivation of authority
the forceful deposition of the vice-regent
specifically : the depriving of a clergyman of an ecclesiastical office or the suspension of a clergyman from the ministry
2.
a. : an alleging or a giving of testimony : a testifying especially before a court
b. : an opinion asserted : a statement made : something alleged : declaration , testimony , allegation ; specifically : testimony taken down in writing under oath or affirmation in reply to interrogatories before a competent officer to replace the viva voce testimony of the witness or to supply necessary information for pretrial procedure — compare affidavit
3.
[Latin deposit us + English -ion ]
: deposition from the cross
4. : the act or process of depositing or the state of being deposited: as
a. obsolete : a putting down or laying aside (as of a burden)
b. : a giving over or committing for safekeeping
deposition of the valuables into the hands of police
c. : a placing or a laying or throwing down often by a natural process
glaciers caused denudation … more widely than deposition — Samuel Van Valkenberg & Ellsworth Huntington
pneumoconiosis involves the deposition of foreign particles in the substance of the lungs
d. : precipitation
the … deposition of metals on cotton from salt solutions — R.S.Horsfall & L.G.Lawrie
sedimentary rocks … formed by the deposition of solids from the waters — S.F.Mason
5. : burial : interment (as of a saint's body) in a new place ; also : a festival commemorating a burial
6.
[ deposit (I) + -ion ]
: something deposited : deposit , sediment
excavation revealed more than one type of deposition in the dry river bed