Deposit
DEPOSIT (Lat. depositum, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of), anything laid down or separated; as in geology, any mass of material accumulated by a natural agency (see Bed), and in chemistry, a precipitate or matter settling from a solution or suspension. In banking, a deposit may mean, generally, a sum of money lodged in a bank without regard to the conditions under which it is held, but more specially money lodged with a bank on "deposit account" and acknowledged by the banker by a "deposit receipt" given to the depositor. It is then not drawn upon by cheque, usually bears interest at a rate varying from time to time, and can only be withdrawn after fixed notice. Deposit is also used in the sense of earnest or security for the performance of a contract. In the law of mortgage the deposit of title-deeds is usual as a security for the repayment of money advanced. Such a deposit operates as an equitable mortgage. In the law of contract, deposit or simple bailment is delivery or bailment of goods in trust to be kept without recompense, and redelivered on demand (see Bailment).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
