Adjacent Words

Invest definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INVEST', v.t. [L. investio; in and vestio, to clothe. See Vest.]
1. To clothe; to dress; to put garments on; to array; usually and most correctly followed by with, before the thing put on; as, to invest one with a mantle or robe. In this sense, it is used chiefly in poetry and elevated prose, not in colloquial discourse.
2. To clothe with office or authority; to place in possession of an office, rank or dignity; as, to invest a person with a civil office, or with an ecclesiastical dignity.
3. To adorn; to grace; as, to invest with honor.
4. To clothe; to surround; as, to be invested with light, splendor or glory.
5. To confer; to give. [Little used.]
6. To inclose; to surround; to block up, so as to intercept succors of men and provisions and prevent escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town.
7. To clothe money in something permanent or less fleeting; as, to invest money in funded or bank stock; to invest it in lands or goods. In this application, it is always followed by in.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make an investment; "Put money into bonds" [syn: invest, put, commit, place] [ant: disinvest, divest]
2: give qualities or abilities to [syn: endow, indue, gift, empower, invest, endue]
3: furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors [syn: invest, clothe, adorn]
4: provide with power and authority; "They vested the council with special rights" [syn: invest, vest, enthrone] [ant: disinvest, divest]
5: place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position; "there was a ceremony to induct the president of the Academy" [syn: induct, invest, seat]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Latin investire to clothe, surround, from in- + vestis garment — more at wear Date: circa 1534 1. [Medieval Latin investire, from Latin, to clothe] a. to array in the symbols of office or honor b. to furnish with power or authority c. to grant someone control or authority over ; vest 2. to cover completely ; envelop 3. clothe, adorn 4. [Middle French investir, from Old Italian investire, from Latin, to surround] to surround with troops or ships so as to prevent escape or entry 5. to endow with a quality ; infuse II. verb Etymology: Italian investire to clothe, invest money, from Latin, to clothe Date: 1613 transitive verb 1. to commit (money) in order to earn a financial return 2. to make use of for future benefits or advantages <invested her time wisely> 3. to involve or engage especially emotionally <were deeply invested in their children's lives> intransitive verb to make an investment • investable adjective • investor noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. (often foll. by in) apply or use (money), esp. for profit. 2 intr. (foll. by in) a put money for profit (into stocks etc.). b colloq. buy (invested in a new car). 3 tr. a (foll. by with) provide, endue, or attribute (a person with qualities, insignia, or rank). b (foll. by in) attribute or entrust (qualities or feelings to a person). 4 tr. cover as a garment. 5 tr. lay siege to. Derivatives: investable adj. investible adj. investor n. Etymology: ME f. F investir or L investire investit- (as IN-(2), vestire clothe f. vestis clothing): sense 1 f. It. investire

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Invest In*vest", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Invested; p. pr. & vb. n. Investing.] [L. investire, investitum; pref. in- in + vestire to clothe, fr. vestis clothing: cf. F. investir. See Vest.] 1. To put garments on; to clothe; to dress; to array; -- opposed to divest. Usually followed by with, sometimes by in; as, to invest one with a robe. 2. To put on. [Obs.] Can not find one this girdle to invest. --Spenser. 3. To clothe, as with office or authority; to place in possession of rank, dignity, or estate; to endow; to adorn; to grace; to bedeck; as, to invest with honor or glory; to invest with an estate. I do invest you jointly with my power. --Shak. 4. To surround, accompany, or attend. Awe such as must always invest the spectacle of the guilt. --Hawthorne. 5. To confer; to give. [R.] It investeth a right of government. --Bacon. 6. (Mil.) To inclose; to surround of hem in with troops, so as to intercept succors of men and provisions and prevent escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town. 7. To lay out (money or capital) in business with the ?iew of obtaining an income or profit; as, to invest money in bank stock.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Invest In*vest", v. i. To make an investment; as, to invest in stocks; -- usually followed by in.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(invests, investing, invested) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you invest in something, or if you invest a sum of money, you use your money in a way that you hope will increase its value, for example by paying it into a bank, or buying shares or property. They intend to invest directly in shares... He invested all our profits in gold shares... When people buy houses they're investing a lot of money. VERB: V in n, V n in n, V n 2. When a government or organization invests in something, it gives or lends money for a purpose that it considers useful or profitable. ...the British government's failure to invest in an integrated transport system. ...the European Investment Bank, which invested £100 million in Canary Wharf... Why does Japan invest, on average, twice as much capital per worker per year than the United States? VERB: V in n, V n in n, V n, also V 3. If you invest in something useful, you buy it, because it will help you to do something more efficiently or more cheaply. The company invested thousands in an electronic order-control system... The easiest way to make ice cream yourself is to invest in an ice cream machine. VERB: V n in n, V in n 4. If you invest time or energy in something, you spend a lot of time or energy on something that you consider to be useful or likely to be successful. I would rather invest time in Rebecca than in the kitchen. VERB: V n in n 5. To invest someone with rights or responsibilities means to give them those rights or responsibilities legally or officially. (FORMAL) The constitution had invested him with certain powers. VERB: V n with n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Clothe, dress, array. 2. Endow (as with authority or power), endue. 3. Put at interest (as money). 4. (Mil.) Enclose, surround, beset, besiege, lay siege to.

Moby Thesaurus

accommodate, afford, allot, anoint, apparel, arm, array, attire, authorize, base, bedeck, bedrape, beleaguer, bequeath, beset, besiege, bless with, blockade, box, budget, build, build in, bundle up, buy in, buy into, case, chair, close, clothe, clothe with power, compass, compass about, consecrate, contribute, cost, cost out, crate, crown, deck, deputize, devote, dight, disburse, donate, dower, drape, dress, dud, embay, embosom, embox, embrace, empower, enable, encapsulate, encase, encircle, enclasp, enclose, enclothe, encompass, endow, endow with, endue, enfold, enlist, enrobe, enroll, enshroud, enthrone, envelop, environ, enwrap, establish, expend, favor with, fill, fill up, financier, find, fix, fork out, found, fund, furnish, garb, garment, give, go around, go round, go through, grace with, ground, habilitate, harass, harry, honor, imbue, inaugurate, incur costs, induct, ingrain, initiate, inoculate, install, instate, invest in, involve, keep, lap, lay out, lay out money, lay siege to, lay the foundation, leaven, maintain, make an investment, make available, make provision for, muffle up, open the purse, ordain, outlay, pack, package, pay, pay out, pitch, place, place in office, plant, plow back into, plunge, prepare, present, provide, provide for, put, put in, put out, put up, rag out, raiment, recruit, reinvest, replenish, risk, robe, run through, schedule, seat, set, set up, settle on, settle upon, sheathe, shell out, shroud, sign on, sign up, sink, sink money in, smother, soften up, speculate, spend, splurge, squander, steep, stock, store, subsidize, suffuse, supply, support, surround, swaddle, swathe, swear in, throne, throw money around, tire, veil, venture, vest, vest with, wrap, wrap about, wrap up, yield