depute
Americanverb (used with object)
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deputes,
present (3rd person singular)
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deputed,
past participle, past
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deputing
present participle
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to appoint as one's substitute, representative, or agent.
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to assign (authority, a function, etc.) to a deputy.
verb
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to appoint as an agent, substitute, or representative
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to assign or transfer (authority, duties, etc) to a deputy; delegate
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deputesimple
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deputessimple
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have deputedperfect
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has deputedperfect
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am deputingprogressive
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are deputingprogressive
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is deputingprogressive
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have been deputingperfect progressive
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has been deputingperfect progressive
Past
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deputedsimple
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had deputedperfect
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was deputingprogressive
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were deputingprogressive
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had been deputingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of depute
1350–1400; Middle English deputen < Anglo-French, Old French deputer to assign < Late Latin dēputāre to allot, Latin: to consider, equivalent to dē- de- + putāre to think
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In 2009 she was appointed the principal advocate depute, becoming the first woman to be appointed to this post.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
The advocate depute asked: "I am asking you as you stand here on oath if you remember were there any grievances on the Edradynate between Brian and David?"
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
Advocate depute Scott McKenzie told the court that Colville, an early years assistant, had no previous convictions.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
Advocate depute Louise Beattie had earlier told how Majewicz - who was born in Poland and moved to Scotland in 2008 - had three previous convictions for violence, including serious assault.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
I depute you, if you love me, to guard her welfare—on my behalf and on your own.
From An Engagement of Convenience A Novel by Zangwill, Louis
Thirdly, those on more than £60,000 - essentially some heads and deputes - will receive a flat pay rise of £3,000.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2023
Under the terms of the latest offer, pay rises would be capped for those earning above £60,000 - principally some heads and deputes.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2022
The deputes start moving toward him and he starts walking at them again.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
At about 10:40 p.m., deputes in Nash County tried to pull the vehicle over, Stone said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2022
He must be able to feel that the thing which he deputes to each will be as surely and as faithfully done as though done by his own hand.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 40, February, 1861 by Various
"But media teams deputed inside Jinnah Convention Centre do not know what's happening outside."
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
"So far we have captured 10 leopards," says AK Singh, the forest official deputed of the district.
From BBC ● May 18, 2023
When he failed to do so, his cousin Amy Lowell took on the task: “I like to imagine that the task has been deputed to me in his stead.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2022
He was usually deputed to pick up the opposing playmaker and the coach Bobby Haarms described him as being "like a kamikaze pilot" as he pursued him, often deep into opposition territory.
From The Guardian ● May 22, 2013
To that end Mr. Talbot, Tyrell, and Nicholas Wogan, amongst others, were deputed to travel into England, ready for the moment of striking.
From Parson Kelly by Lang, Andrew
Amid fresh cries of "Shame!" irate M. P.'s exacted a promise that there be no "deputing."
From Time Magazine Archive
The Emperor now became seriously anxious, and, after a consultation with his attendants, resolved on deputing Manzur Ali to seek a personal explanation with Gholam Kadir and Ismail Beg.
From Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan by Keene, H. G. (Henry George)
The practice of deputing certain vessels to art as "parent ships" to a covey of waterplanes has proved as successful in practice, as in theory.
From Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose
After the council broke up he was heard outside accosting this and that deputing chief, and speaking in a loud, gratified tone of the Rajah's property being protected in the Rajah's absence.
From Lord Jim by Conrad, Joseph
Up and down the lines he went, peering into tents, digging at kits and deputing members of his retinue to test them for tooth-brushes.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, June 14, 1916 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
