Etymograph

English

appose

Appose comes from Latin appōnō ‘to appoint, assign’, from pōnō ‘put’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-1‘to cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinéti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinō1‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinō1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō1‘put’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappōnō2‘to appoint, assign’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1614–1615appose2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin appono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English appose
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1614–1615, Homer, (please specify the book number): “The nymph herself did then appose, / For food…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-Wiktionary, Latin appono‘to cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétiWiktionary, Latin apponoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinōWiktionary, Latin appono‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinōWiktionary, Latin apponoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnōWiktionary, Latin appono‘put’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappōnōWiktionary, English appose‘to appoint, assign’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1614–1615apposeWiktionary, English appose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1614–1615, Homer, (please specify the book number): “The nymph herself did then appose, / For food…”

The story

Coined based on Latin appōnō, by analogy with compose, suppose etc.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’

homeless, compound, suppose, hamlet, bohemian, impose, homely, hame, 48 more

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti

prepositional, 37 more

through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’

site, situation, composition, posture, situate, preposition, supposition, positivism, situs, compostela, 38 more

through Proto-Italic *pozinō

opposition, proposition, exposition, deposition, disposition, imposition, compost, compositor, suppository, presupposition, impost, 23 more

through Latin pōnō ‘put’

post, position, positive, purpose, opposite, opponent, consolation, propose, expose, repository, proponent, dispose, compose, exponent, expound, posit, pone, presuppose, 53 more

Today it means

verb To place next or to or near to; to juxtapose.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “appose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin appono. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- / appose

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