repository

Where does the word "repository" come from? It comes from Latin re ponere, passing through Late Latin before entering English (1400s).

Repository’s story begins in Latin: re ponere meant “to put back, to store.” To put back, to store, from re- (back) and ponere (to place). By ancient, the word had taken hold in Late Latin as repositorium. A place for storing things, from reponere. It reached English by 1400s as repository. Settled as the English word for a place where things are stored. Today, repository means a place or container where things are stored, or a central store of information.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient re ponere "to put back, to store", to put back, to store, from re- (back) and ponere (to place).
2. Stage 2 · Late Latin · ancient repositorium "a place for storing things", a place for storing things, from reponere.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1400s repository "a place where things are stored", settled as the English word for a place where things are stored.