Trend Watch

Senator Reed Expects Mueller will 'Depose' Trump

That word might not mean what you think it means.

Depose rose to the top of our lookups on June 9th, 2017, after Jack Reed, the Democratic senator from Rhode Island, stated on CNN that he expects Robert Mueller will depose Donald Trump.

Depose has a number of meanings, and the one that is perhaps most familiar to people outside of the legal profession ("to remove from a throne or other high position") does not appear to be the one intended by Reed.

The word, which comes from a Latin word meaning "to put down" (deponere), also has two distinct legal meanings. These are "to testify to under oath or by sworn affidavit" and "to take testimony from especially by deposition."


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