invest

[ in-vest ]

/ ɪnˈvɛst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR invest ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to put (money) to use, by purchase or expenditure, in something offering potential profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

to use (money), as in accumulating something: to invest large sums in books.

to use, give, or devote (time, talent, etc.), as for a purpose or to achieve something: He invested a lot of time in helping retarded children.

to furnish with power, authority, rank, etc.: The Constitution invests the president with the power of veto.

to furnish or endow with a power, right, etc.; vest: Feudalism invested the lords with absolute authority over their vassals.

to endow with a quality or characteristic: to invest a friend with every virtue.

to infuse or belong to, as a quality or characteristic: Goodness invests his every action.

Metallurgy. to surround (a pattern) with an investment.

to provide with the insignia of office.

to install in an office or position.

to clothe, attire, or dress.

to cover, adorn, or envelop: Spring invests the trees with leaves.

to surround (a place) with military forces or works so as to prevent approach or escape; besiege.

verb (used without object)

to invest money; make an investment: to invest in oil stock.

Nearby words

inverted testis, inverter, invertible counterpoint, invertin, invertor, invest, investable, investigable, investigate, investigation, investigative

Origin of invest

1525–35; < Medieval Latin investīre to install, invest (money), surround, clothe in, Latin: to clothe in, equivalent to in- in-² + vestīre to clothe, derivative of vestis garment; see vest

Related forms

in·ves·tor, nounnon·in·ves·tor, nouno·ver·in·vest, verbpre·in·vest, verb (used with object)

re·in·vest, verb (used with object)un·der·in·vest, verb (used without object)un·der·in·vest·ed, adjectiveun·in·vest·ed, adjectivewell-in·vest·ed, adjective

Can be confusedinfect infest invest

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for invest

The idea to invest in their own hair company came from Miko after seeing how clients at their salon responded to her natural hair.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45|Danielle Belton|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Others are here to invest in artists with promising reputations, and thus the possibility of future ROI.
Sneer and Clothing in Miami: Inside The $3 Billion Woodstock of Contemporary Art|Jay Michaelson|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We should invest in new leaders, new conversations and new collaborations.
The Hidden Link Between Women and War|Leith Greenslade|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I want to invest in the future and the Republicans are stuck in the past.
The Only Way for Democrats to Win|Jonathan Alter|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“San Miguel is a very small place and when someone shows up to invest lots of money, everyone hears about it,” he said.
Trading Dime Bags for Salvador Dali|Jason McGahan|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We will have Eastern visitors here by the thousands—capitalists—men with money to invest.
The Octopus|Frank Norris
But would this work advance the cause of forgery, and tend to invest it with the quality of truth?
Notes and Queries, Number 212, November 19, 1853|Various
He was planning on winding up somewhere important and to do it he had to invest his years properly.
Measure for a Loner|James Judson Harmon
I push on the end of the hog's bristle, which continues to invest the polype.
Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children|W. Houghton
Take a bank with one hundred thousand dollars to invest in government bonds as a basis for its issuance of currency.
Belford's Magazine, Volume II, No. 8, January, 1889|Various

British Dictionary definitions for invest

invest

/ (ɪnˈvɛst) /

verb

(often foll by in) to lay out (money or capital in an enterprise, esp by purchasing shares) with the expectation of profit

(tr often foll by in) to devote (effort, resources, etc, to a project)

(tr; often foll by in or with) mainly archaic to clothe or adorn (in some garment, esp the robes of an office)to invest a king in the insignia of an emperor

(tr often foll by in) to install formally or ceremoniously (in an official position, rank, etc)

(tr; foll by in or with) to place (power, authority, etc, in) or provide (with power or authority)to invest new rights in the monarchy

(tr; usually passive; foll by in or with) to provide or endow (a person with qualities, characteristics, etc)he was invested with great common sense

(tr foll by with) usually poetic to cover or adorn, as if with a coat or garmentwhen spring invests the trees with leaves

(tr) rare to surround with military forces; besiege

(intr foll by in) informal to purchase; buy

Derived Formsinvestable or investible, adjectiveinvestor, noun

Word Origin for invest

C16: from Medieval Latin investīre to clothe, from Latin, from vestīre, from vestis a garment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for invest

invest

late 14c., "to clothe in the official robes of an office," from Latin investire "to clothe in, cover, surround," from in "in, into" (see in- (2)) + vestire "to dress, clothe" (see wear). The meaning "use money to produce profit" first attested 1610s in connection with the East Indies trade, and is probably a borrowing of Italian investire (13c.) from the same Latin root, via the notion of giving one's capital a new form. The military meaning "to besiege" is from c.1600. Related: Invested; investing.

invest

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of invest

Examples from the Web for invest

British Dictionary definitions for invest

invest

verb

Word Origin for invest

Word Origin and History for invest

invest