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Origin and history of position

position(n.)

late 14c., posicioun, as a term in logic and philosophy, "statement of belief, the laying down of a proposition or thesis," from Old French posicion "position, supposition" (Modern French position) and directly from Latin positionem (nominative positio) "act or fact of placing, situation, position, affirmation," noun of state from past-participle stem of ponere "put, place." Watkins tentatively identifies this as from PIE *po-s(i)nere, from *apo- "off, away" (see apo-) + *sinere "to leave, let" (see site). But de Vaan identifies it as from Proto-Italic *posine-, from PIE *tkine- "to build, live," from root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (see home (n.)).

The meaning "place occupied by a person or thing" especially a proper or appropriate place, is from 1540s; hence "status, standing, social rank" (1832); "official station, employment" (1890). The meaning "manner in which some physical thing is arranged or posed, aggregate of the spatial relations of a body or figure to other such bodies or figures" is recorded by 1703; specifically in reference to dance steps, 1778, to sexual intercourse, 1883. Military sense of "place occupied or to be occupied" is by 1781.

also from late 14c.

position(v.)

1670s, "to assume a position" (intransitive), from position (n.). Transitive sense of "place or put in relation to other objects," now the usual meaning, is recorded from 1817. Related: Positioned; positioning.

also from 1670s

Entries linking to position

home(n.)

Middle English hom, from Old English ham, home "dwelling place, house, abode, fixed residence; estate; village; region, country," from Proto-Germanic *haimaz "home," which is reconstructed to be from a suffixed form of PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home."

Figuratively as the seat or location (of faith, love, etc.) from late Old English. As an adverb in Old English; as an adjective from 1550s. Early plural sometimes was hamen, homen.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian hem "home, village," Old Norse heimr "residence; village; world," heima "home," Danish hjem, Middle Dutch heem, German Heim "home," Gothic haims "village." The old Germanic sense of "village" is preserved in English place names in -ham, German -heim, etc., and in hamlet.

'Home' in the full range and feeling of [Modern English] home is a conception that belongs distinctively to the word home and some of its Gmc. cognates and is not covered by any single word in most of the IE languages. [Buck]

At home "in one's house" is from Old English; by late 14c. as "in a congenial environment," hence "at one's ease" (1510s). The slang phrase make (oneself) at home "become comfortable in a place one does not live" dates from 1892.

Home guard "local volunteer defense force" is by 1836. To keep the home fires burning is a song title from 1914; home-fire as symbolic of family life is by 1892 (compare hearth).

Home movie "film of one's own domestic circle and activities" is from 1919. Home computer, in reference to one designed for recreational or educational use at home, is attested from 1967. To be nothing to write home about "unremarkable" is from 1907. In Middle English the long home was "the grave."

Home economics as a school course is attested by 1899; the phrase itself by 1879 as "household management," which is the simple sense of economy, the phrase is thus etymologically redundant.

Home as the goal in a sport or game is by 1778. Home base in baseball is attested by 1856; home plate by 1867. Home team in sports is by 1869; home field "grounds belonging to the local team" is by 1802 (the 1800 citation in OED 2nd ed. print is a date typo, as it refers to baseball in Spokane Falls). Home-field advantage is attested by 1914 in reference to U.S. football teams winning more often at home.

site(n.)

"place or position occupied by something," especially with reference to environment, also "land on which a building stands, location of a village," late 14c., from Anglo-French site, Old French site "place, site; position," and directly from Latin situs "a place, position, situation, location, station; idleness, sloth, inactivity; forgetfulness; the effects of neglect," from past participle of sinere "let, leave alone, permit" (from PIE *si-tu-, from root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home").