Positioned

How to spell positioned

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce positioned

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does positioned mean?

1. verbPlaced or arranged in a particular spot or stance.

Positioned in a sentence

• The security camera was carefully positioned to cover the front entrance.

• She positioned the desk near the window for better light.

Where does positioned come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb ponere, meaning 'to put' or 'to place', whose past participle was positus. From that stem came the Latin noun positio, literally 'a placing' or 'a setting down'. English took it in through Old French as 'position' during the late 1300s, originally describing the way something was arranged or situated, and only later did it become a verb meaning 'to put in a particular place'. The past form 'positioned' simply adds the regular -ed ending to that verb. The same ponere root quietly powers a whole family of English words, including 'deposit', 'compose', 'opponent', and 'expose', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the -t- of positus inside the soft -tion- sound.

How the word is built

• posit- (from Latin ponere/positus: to place)
• -ion (noun-forming)
• -ed (past tense/participle)