'deployment' originates from French, specifically the word 'déployer,' where the prefix 'des-' (from Latin 'dis-') meant 'un-' and 'ployer/plier' meant 'to fold'; the English noun-forming suffix '-ment' was added to form 'deployment'.

'deployment' changed from Old French 'desploier'/'desployer' and Middle English forms such as 'deploien'/'deployen', and eventually became the modern English word 'deployment'.

Initially it meant 'to unfold' or 'to spread out' (a literal sense of opening or spreading), but over time it evolved to mean 'to position or arrange (troops, resources) for action' and, by extension, 'to put into operational use' (e.g., software).