deputy

English

Alternative forms

• deputee (archaic)

Etymology

From French député, from Late Latin deputatus (“appointed”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛpjəti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛpjəti/, /ˈdɛpəti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

deputy (plural deputies)

1. One appointed as the substitute of others, and empowered to act for them, in their name or their behalf; a substitute in office.

   Synonyms: lieutenant, representative, delegate, vice, vicegerent

   the deputy of a prince

   The deputy sheriff was promoted after his senior retired.

   As the deputy store manager, he is able to fire staff.

2. (mining, historical) A person employed to install and remove props, brattices, etc. and to clear gas, for the safety of the miners.
3. (government) The name for a member of parliament in some countries.

   The State Duma comprises 450 deputies.

   1. A member of the French National Assembly.
   2. (historical) A member of the French Chamber of Deputies, formerly called Corps Législatif.
   3. (Ireland, often capitalized) A member of Dáil Éireann, or the title of a member of Dáil Éireann.

      Eamon Ryan is a deputy in the Dáil.

      At today's meeting, Deputy Ryan will speak on local issues.

4. (US) a law enforcement officer who works for the county sheriff's office; a deputy sheriff or sheriff's deputy; the entry level rank in such an agency.

   The sheriff's deputies took the suspect into custody.

   Deputy Jones was promoted to corporal today.

Usage notes

Deputy is used in combination with the names of various executive officers, to denote an assistant empowered to act in their name; as, deputy collector, deputy marshal, deputy sheriff. In the British coal mining industry, the word referred to as a deputy overman, which was roughly akin to a foreman in other industries.

Synonyms

• substitute
• representative
• legate
• delegate
• envoy
• agent
• See also Thesaurus:deputy

Hyponyms

• vice admiral
• vice director
• vicegerent
• vice president

Derived terms

• confused deputy
• deputise, deputize
• deputy first minister
• deputy prime minister

Translations

representative

• Albanian: zëvendës (sq) m
• Arabic: نَائِب m (nāʔib), نَائِبَة f (nāʔiba)
• Armenian: պատգամավոր (hy) (patgamavor)
• Azerbaijani: müavin
• Belarusian: наме́снік m (namjésnik), наме́сніца f (namjésnica)
• Bulgarian: представи́тел (bg) m (predstavítel), заме́стник (bg) m (zaméstnik)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 代表 (zh) (dàibiǎo), 代理人 (zh) (dàilǐrén)

• Czech: zástupce (cs) m, zástupkyně f, náměstek (cs) m, náměstkyně f
• Danish: stedfortræder (da) c, vice-, næst-
• Dutch: vertegenwoordiger (nl) m, vertegenwoordigster (nl) f
• Esperanto: deputato
• Estonian: esindaja (et)
• Faroese: umboð n, varamaður m
• Finnish: edustaja (fi), sijainen (fi), varajäsen (fi)
• French: adjoint (fr) m, adjointe (fr) f, suppléant (fr) m, suppléante (fr) f
• Galician: vigairo m, maneiro m
• Georgian: მოადგილე (moadgile)
• German: Stellvertreter (de) m, Stellvertreterin (de) f
• Greek: αναπληρωτής (el) m (anaplirotís), αναπληρώτρια (el) f (anaplirótria)
• Hebrew: סֶגֶן (he) m (ségen), סְגָנִית f
• Hindi: नायब (hi) m (nāyab), नाइब (hi) m (nāib), डिप्टी (hi) m (ḍipṭī)
• Hungarian: helyettes (hu), megbízott (hu), megbízott helyettes
• Ido: deputato (io), adyunto (io)
• Indonesian: deputi (id)
• Italian: delegato (it) m, rappresentate (it) m, vice (it) m
• Japanese: 代理 (ja) (だいり, dairi), 代理人 (ja) (だいりにん, dairinin)
• Kazakh: орынбасар (orynbasar)
• Khmer: ជំនួស (km) (cumnuəh), បាឡាត់ (km) (baalat), ភូឈួយ (km) (phuu chuəy)
• Korean: 대리인(代理人) (ko) (daeriin), 대리자(代理者) (ko) (daerija)
• Kyrgyz: орунбасар (orunbasar)
• Lao: ຜູ້ຮອງ (phū hǭng), ຜູ້ແທນ (phū thǣn)
• Latin: lēgātus (la) m
• Latvian: vietnieks m, vietniece f
• Lithuanian: pavaduotojas m, pavaduotoja f
• Macedonian: заменик m (zamenik), заменичка f (zamenička)
• Manx: fo-reiltagh m
• Maori: tēputi, kaitiriwā
• Mingrelian: ალმახვენჯი (almaxvenǯi)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: орлогч (mn) (orlogč)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nestleder (no) m

• Pashto: معاون m (mo'āwén), ډپتي m (ḍepṭí)
• Persian: جانشین (fa) (jânešin), معاون (fa) (mo'âven), نایب (fa) (nâyeb)
• Polish: zastępca (pl) m, zastępczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: representante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: delegat (ro) m, reprezentant (ro) m, deputat (ro) m
• Russian: замести́тель (ru) m (zamestítelʹ), замести́тельница (ru) f (zamestítelʹnica), представи́тель (ru) m (predstavítelʹ), представи́тельница (ru) f (predstavítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: за̑менӣк m, за̑мјенӣк m, за̑меница f, за̑мјеница f

  Roman: zȃmenīk (sh) m, zȃmjenīk (sh) m, zȃmenica f, zȃmjenica (sh) f

• Slovak: námestník m, námestkyňa f, zástupca m, zástupkyňa f
• Slovene: namestnik m, namestnica f
• Spanish: suplente c, sustituto (es) m, delegado (es) m, representante (es) c, adjunto (es) m
• Swahili: naibu (sw)
• Swedish: biträdande (sv), vice (sv)
• Tajik: ҷонишин (tg) (jonišin), муовин (muovin), ноиб (noyib)
• Tatar: урынбасар (tt) (urınbasar)
• Thai: ผู้รักษาการแทน (pûu-rák-sǎa-gaan-tɛɛn), ตัวแทน (th) (dtuua-tɛɛn), ผู้แทน (th) (pûu-tɛɛn), ปลัด (bpà-làt)
• Turkish: muavin (tr)
• Turkmen: orunbasar
• Ukrainian: засту́пник m (zastúpnyk), засту́пниця f (zastúpnycja)
• Urdu: نائب m (nā'ib), ڈپٹی m (ḍipṭī)
• Uyghur: مۇئاۋىن (mu'awin)
• Uzbek: muovin (uz), oʻrinbosar (uz)
• Vietnamese: phó (vi)

member of parliament — see also legislator,‎ Member of Parliament

• Armenian: պատգամավոր (hy) (patgamavor)
• Azerbaijani: deputat (az)
• Belarusian: дэпута́т m (deputát), дэпута́тка f (deputátka)
• Bulgarian: депута́т (bg) m (deputát), депута́тка f (deputátka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 議員／议员 (zh) (yìyuán)

• Danish: deputeret c
• Esperanto: deputato
• Finnish: edustaja (fi)
• French: député (fr) m, députée (fr) f
• Galician: deputado (gl) m
• Georgian: დეპუტატი (deṗuṭaṭi)
• German: Deputierter m (strong masculine form), Deputierte m or f (feminine or weak masculine form), Abgeordneter (de) m (strong masculine form), Abgeordnete (de) m or f (feminine or weak masculine form)
• Greek: βουλευτής (el) m (vouleftís)
• Hungarian: képviselő (hu), képviselőház tagja
• Ido: deputato (io)
• Indonesian: wakil rakyat (id)
• Irish: teachta m
• Italian: deputato (it), deputata (it) f
• Japanese: 代議士 (ja) (だいぎし, daigishi)
• Kazakh: депутат (deputat)
• Korean: 의원(議員) (ko) (uiwon)
• Kyrgyz: депутат (ky) (deputat)
• Latvian: deputāts m
• Lithuanian: deputatas (lt) m
• Ngazidja Comorian: wakala class 5/6
• Portuguese: deputado (pt) m
• Romanian: deputat (ro) m, deputată (ro) f
• Russian: депута́т (ru) m (deputát)
• Spanish: diputado (es) m
• Turkish: milletvekili (tr), mebus (tr)
• Ukrainian: депута́т m (deputát), депута́тка f (deputátka)
• Uzbek: deputat (uz)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} député m (Jersey)

See also

• vice-

Verb

deputy (third-person singular simple present deputies, present participle deputying, simple past and past participle deputied)

1. (informal, nonstandard) to deputise

Further reading

• “deputy”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “deputy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “deputy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “deputy”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “deputy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “deputy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “deputy” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.