exponere

Exponere is a Latin verb of the third conjugation meaning to expose, to place before, to set forth, or to explain. In morphology it appears as exponō, exponis, exponit, exponimus, exponitis, exponunt; its principal parts are exponere, exposuī, expositum; the supine is expositum, and the past participle is expositus. The word comes from ex- “out” + ponere “to place.” In Latin, exponere covers both physical exposure (to expose to view) and intellectual presentation (to explain or set forth an argument).

In classical usage, exponere is common in prose by authors such as Cicero and Caesar, where it means to present or lay out something for consideration. It can describe both the act of exposing information and the act of explaining a point or a plan. Typical expressions include exponere causam “to set forth a case” and exponere rationem “to explain the reasoning.”

Cognates and derivatives of exponere include expositio “explanation, exposition” and expositus, the past participle used in various compounds. These derivatives give rise to English terms such as exposition and expository. The word is also related historically to English exposit and the mathematical term exponent through a shared Latin root, though the modern senses have specialized developments.

Modern usage: Exponere remains a standard Latin verb for “to present, explain, or expose” in academic contexts, particularly in rhetoric, philosophy, history, and law texts. Outside Latin studies, it appears mainly as a dictionary headword or through its derivatives (e.g., exposition) rather than as a common active verb in English.

---