investiture

American  

[in-ves-ti-cher, -choor] / ɪnˈvɛs tɪ tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər /

noun

1. the act or process of investing.

2. the formal bestowal, confirmation, or presentation of rank, office, or a possessory or prescriptive right, usually involving the giving of insignia or an official title.

3. the state of being invested, as with a garment, quality, or office.

4. something that covers or adorns.

5. Archaic. something that invests.

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investiture British  

/ ɪnˈvɛstɪtʃə /

noun

1. the act of presenting with a title or with the robes and insignia of an office or rank

2. (in feudal society) the formal bestowal of the possessory right to a fief or other benefice

3. a less common word for investment

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Other Word Forms

• investitive
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of investiture

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin investītūra, equivalent to investīt(us) (past participle of investīre “to install”; see invest) + -ūra -ure

Explanation

Investiture is what happens when a government official, a judge, or a head of state is formally put into office or promoted to a higher rank. The investiture of a king or queen involves an elaborate, lengthy ceremony. The noun investiture is good for describing the process of naming a judge or a church bishop, for example, to office. Investitures tend to include ritual ceremony and the symbolic transfer of a position from one person to the next. In the U.S., Supreme Court justices are invested with the position — which literally means "clothed in the official robes of office." Both words stem from the Latin investire, "clothe in" or "cover."

Example Sentences

These two dates influenced European and American history far more than the Investiture Conflict or the Golden Bull .

From Time Magazine Archive

Investiture into a masculine order�an army unit or the Masons�is like marriage, which explains in part the thread that binds the warrior to his buddy.

From Time Magazine Archive

This Prince dying without Issue, John Sigismond Elector of Brandenburg succeeded him, and again receiv'd the Investiture of it from the King of Poland, for himself and his three Brothers.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume III Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

I.—March 19, 1123, under Calixtus II., with regard to the Investiture.

From Walks in Rome by Hare, Augustus J. C.

That was in honour of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales....

From Mushroom Town by Onions, Oliver