Etymograph

English

expose

Expose comes from Old French exposer ‘to lay open, set forth’, from Latin pōnō ‘to place, 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‘to place, put’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpōnō2‘set forth’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400exposer2‘to lay open, set forth’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exposen2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1893expose2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin expono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English expose
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1893, Fridtjof Nansen, Eskimo Life: “This they do, as a rule, by exposing the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-Wiktionary, Latin expono‘to cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétiWiktionary, Latin exponoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinōWiktionary, Latin expono‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinōWiktionary, Latin exponoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnōWiktionary, Latin expono‘to place, put’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpōnōWiktionary, English expose‘set forth’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400exposerWiktionary, English expose‘to lay open, set forth’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exposenWiktionary, English expose
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1893exposeWiktionary, English expose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1893, Fridtjof Nansen, Eskimo Life: “This they do, as a rule, by exposing the…”

Linked words

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

homeless, compound, suppose, hamlet, bohemian, impose, homely, hame, 49 more

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti

prepositional, apposite, 38 more

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

site, situation, composition, posture, situate, supposition, preposition, positivism, situs, compostela, 40 more

through Proto-Italic *pozinō

opposition, proposition, deposition, disposition, imposition, compost, suppository, presupposition, compositor, impost, 25 more

through Latin pōnō ‘to place, put’

post, position, positive, purpose, opposite, opponent, consolation, propose, repository, proponent, dispose, compose, posit, pone, presuppose, 54 more

through Latin expōnō ‘set forth’

exponent, expound, 2 more

Today it means

verb To reveal; to uncover; to make visible; to bring to light.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “expose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin expono. 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- / expose

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