Etymograph

English

deplace

Deplace comes from French déplacer ‘to move, displace’, from place ‘place, square, plaza, piazza’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλατεῖα1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplatea1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400place1
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentplace2‘place, square, plaza, piazza’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdéplacer3‘to move, displace’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1982deplace3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French place
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French déplacer
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English deplace
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1982, Sherrell J. Aston, Albert Hornblass: “Even without mobilization of the bone, the median eyelid…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλατεῖαWiktionary, French place
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplateaWiktionary, French place
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400placeWiktionary, French place
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentplaceWiktionary, French déplacer‘place, square, plaza, piazza’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdéplacerWiktionary, English deplace‘to move, displace’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1982deplaceWiktionary, English deplace. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1982, Sherrell J. Aston, Albert Hornblass: “Even without mobilization of the bone, the median eyelid…”

Linked words

through Latin platea

plaza, piazza, 5 more

through Old French place

platz, 3 more

through French déplacer ‘to move, displace’

displacement

Today it means

verb To displace.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “deplace”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French place, French déplacer. 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 / Ancient Greek πλατεῖα / deplace

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