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,in'vest

--verb (verb: invest; 3rd person present: invests; past tense: invested; past participle: invested; gerund or present participle: investing)

1. to make an investment.
2. to give qualities or abilities to.
3. to furnish with power or authority; to of kings or emperors.
4. to provide with power and authority.
5. to place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position.
1387 (implied in investiture), "to clothe in the official robes of an office," from Latin investire "to clothe in, cover, surround," from in "in, into" + vestire "to dress, clothe." The meaning "use money to produce profit" first attested 1613 in connection with the East Indies trade, and is probably a borrowing of It. 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 1600.