Posed

How to spell posed

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce posed

What does posed mean?

1. verbHeld a deliberate position or attitude, especially for a photograph or portrait.
2. verbPut forward or presented something such as a question, problem, or threat.

Posed in a sentence

• The bride and groom posed on the steps while the photographer adjusted the lighting.

• The leaked report posed a serious threat to the company's reputation.

• The whole team posed for a group picture after the final match.

• The interviewer posed a difficult question about the budget cuts.

Where does posed come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the past form of the verb 'pose', which English took from the Old French verb 'poser', meaning 'to place', 'to set down', or 'to put'. That French verb grew out of the Late Latin 'pausare', meaning 'to halt' or 'to come to rest', the same source that gives us 'pause'. Along the way its meaning became entangled with the unrelated Latin verb 'ponere', meaning 'to put or place', which is why so many English words ending in '-pose' (compose, propose, expose) carry a sense of placing or setting. By the sixteenth century 'pose' was being used in English for arranging the body into a deliberate position, and later for setting out a question or presenting a difficulty. A useful spelling note: 'posed' is a near-twin of 'poised' (meaning balanced or ready), and the missing 'i' is the trap, since 'posed' rests on the plain root 'pose'.

How the word is built

• pose (from Old French poser: to place, set down)
• -ed (past tense suffix)