deposition

dep-uh-ZISH-un

meaning in plain English

A formal talk where someone answers questions under oath outside of court, written down to use later in a legal case.

for example

She sat in a quiet room and answered questions for two hours during her deposition.

Imagine someone giving a sworn statement about what they saw, but not in front of a judge. Why record it? So if they can’t come to court later, their words can still be used as proof. That’s a deposition.