What is one of the defining characteristics of a deponent verb in Latin?

A deponent verb in Latin is characterized by its unique formation, which is always in passive voice while actively conveying meaning. This means that deponent verbs utilize passive forms in their conjugation, such as the endings used for passive verbs, but they express active meanings or actions.

For example, a deponent verb might translate into English with an active sense, even though it appears in a passive grammatical structure in Latin. This is an essential distinction for understanding how deponent verbs function in sentences, as they do not have an active voice counterpart despite using passive forms.

The other characteristics mentioned do not apply universally to all deponent verbs. While it is true that they typically do not take a direct object (as indicated in one of the options), this is because their meaning is inherently active, thus not requiring a direct object in the same way a typical transitive verb would. Furthermore, the statement about them being regular verbs is misleading as deponent verbs can be irregular. Similarly, saying that deponent verbs have no perfect passive participle is inaccurate; they do not use the active participle form but instead have their structure that aligns with their unique characteristics.