Exponent
/ɪkˈspoʊ.nənt/noun
A person or thing that publicly represents or advocates something, or a mathematical quantity indicating how many times a base is multiplied by itself.
Did you know?In Latin, exponent comes from exponere, meaning “to put forth” or “set out,” and the same root gave us words tied to exposure, display, and even public explanation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*po-
“to place, put”
Latin
Latin
ponere
“to place, set, put”
Latin
Latin
exponere
“to put forth, explain, display”
Middle English
English
exponent
“one who explains or interprets; a public representative”
17th Century
English
exponent
“a mathematical symbol indicating repeated multiplication”
Modern English
English
exponent
“a representative or advocate; a power in mathematics”