English
deploy
Deploy comes from French déployer ‘to unroll, unfold’, from Latin plicō ‘to fold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicare‘to fold’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desploiier‘to unfold’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdéployer‘to unroll, unfold’
- Englishearliest quotation 1834deploy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait, to weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicōas plicare‘to fold’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desploiier‘to unfold’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdéployer‘to unroll, unfold’
- Englishearliest quotation 1834deploy
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “The carriage, which was at full gallop, stopped suddenly;…”
The story
Borrowed from French déployer (‘to unroll, unfold’), from Old French desploiier, itself from des- + ploiier, or possibly from Late Latin displicāre (‘to unfold, display’), from Latin dis- (‘apart’) + plicare (‘to fold’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’
complex, fiasco, replication, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 34 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
apply, display, employment, reply, explicit, imply, exploitation, exploit, implicit, employ, replica, complication, complicate, accomplice, inexplicable, complicity, ply, implicate, supple, pliable, supplication, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 22 more
Today it means
verb To prepare and arrange (originally military unit or units, i.e., to array troops) for use.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / deploy