Dictionary

invest en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈvɛst/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɪnˈvest/ (Australia)
• (London) audio
• (California) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French investir or Medieval Latin investire, from Latin investio (“to clothe, cover”), from in- (“in, on”) + vestio (“to clothe, dress”), from vestis (“clothing”); see vest. The sense “to spend money etc.” probably via Italian investire, of the same root.

Meanings

1. To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in.
   • We'd like to thank all the contributors who have invested countless hours into this event.
   • The authors predicted that when believers were deeply invested in a world view that had social support, believers would maintain their beliefs even when actual events disproved their worldview. 2025 November 4, Thomas Kelly, “Debunking “When Prophecy Fails””, in Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, volume 62, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 1:
   • We did not spend. We invested. [CEO Jeff Housenbold: He's learning!] I invest. Yes, I invested. I invested in a city for the contestants. 2025 December 3, NY Times DealBook Summit, 29:21, in MrBeast on Cracking the Attention Economy, spoken by Jimmy Donaldson:
2. (dated, transitive) To clothe or wrap (with garments).
   • He was but shabbily apparelled in faded jacket and patched trowsers; a rag of a black handkerchief investing his neck. 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To put on (clothing).
   • Cannot find one this girdle to invest! 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 4, canto 5, verse 18:
4. To envelop, wrap, cover.
   • Night / Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1, ll. 207-8:
5. To commit money or capital in the hope of financial gain.
6. To ceremonially install someone in some office.
7. To formally give (someone) some power or authority.
   • Madam, whatſoeuer you eſteeme Of this ſucceſſe, and loſſe vnualued, Both may inueſt you Empreſſe of the Eaſt: […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
   • The Syariah Courts duly constituted under any law in a State and invested with jurisdiction over persons professing the religion of Islam […] are hereby conferred jurisdiction in respect of offences against precepts of the religion of Islam by persons professing that religion which may be prescribed under any written law […] 1965, Parliament of Malaysia, “Section 1”, in Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (1988 R. Ed.), page 5:
   • I do invest you jointly with my power. c. 1603–06, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 1:
8. To formally give (power or authority).
   • For he saith, if there can be found such an inequality between man and man, as there is between man and beast, or between soul and body, it investeth a right of government: which seemeth rather an impossible case than an untrue sentence. a. 1626, Francis Bacon, An Advertisement Touching a Holy War:
9. To surround, accompany, or attend.
   • For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras with startling accounts of commonplaces never delude you into unnecessary excitements; you hear of no domestic afflictions; bankrupt securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what you shall have for dinner—for all your meals for three years and more are snugly stowed in casks, and your bill of fare is immutable. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 35, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 171:
   • The scene was not without a mixture of awe such as must always invest the spectacle of the guilt and shame in a fellow-creature, before society shall have grown corrupt enough to smile, instead of shuddering, at it. 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:
10. To lay siege to.
    • When she related that a band of fanatics, after robbing a church of all its silver-plate, and burning the adjacent vicarage, drunk with their success, had invested the Castle, and cried aloud for ‘the man’ to be brought unto them, that he might be hewed to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal—[…]her young hearers felt a deep stirring of the heart,—a proud yet mellowed elation that never yet was felt by the reader of a written history, though its pages were as legitimate as any sanctioned by the royal licenser at Madrid. 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 216:
    • to invest a town
11. (intransitive) To make investments.
12. To prepare for lost wax casting by creating an investment mold (a mixture of a silica sand and plaster).
13. (intransitive) To cause to be involved in; to cause to form strong attachments to.
    • We decided that it was because he trusted the core beliefs of the Conservative Party, and he was invested in their vision of change in the NorthWest of England where he comes from. 2015, James Graham, Tory Boyz, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 11:
    • She knew from watching him grow up that he didn't let that many people too close to him, but once he did, he was invested in that relationship. 2014, Sarah Varland, Tundra Threat: Faith in the Face of Crime, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 107:
    • From early on in his career, Zola's work as a critic revealed just how heavily he was invested in the literary “dream of stone.” 2004, Michael D. Garval, A Dream of Stone, University of Delaware Press, →ISBN, page 214:
14. (Spanish) To inaugurate the Prime Minister of Spain after a successful parliamentary vote.
    • The outcome also makes it very difficult for Feijóo to become the next PM, because he does not have the support to be invested as such, unless there are changes in the initial positions of key players such as the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). 2023 July 24, Carlos Cué, “In Spain, the left's resistance thwarts a PP-Vox majority and leaves all possibilities open”, in El País, retrieved 06 Aug 2023:

Forms

Antonyms

divest (antonym(s) of “commit funds”) · divest (antonym(s) of “clothe”) · divest (antonym(s) of “give”) · disinvest (antonym(s) of “commit funds”)

Deriveds

uninvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · underinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investment (terms derived from invest (verb)) · malinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · outinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · overinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investible (terms derived from invest (verb)) · rentvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · misinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investress (terms derived from invest (verb)) · deinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · coinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · noninvesting (terms derived from invest (verb)) · disinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investable (terms derived from invest (verb)) · reinvest (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investor (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investiture (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investee (terms derived from invest (verb)) · investive (terms derived from invest (verb))

Relateds

divest · vestment · vest · vestibule · vesture

Synonyms

besiege (lay siege to) · don · beclothe (put on clothing) · dress

Translations (125)

es ser devoto a (to be involved in; to form strong attachments to) · fr investir (to lay siege to) · sw wekeza (to make investments) · fi peittää (to envelop, wrap, cover) · cmn 耗費 /耗费 (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · es investir (to formally give power) · mi whakangao (to make investments) · es insumir (to make investments) · bg инвестирам (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · lv ieguldīt (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fr investir (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · ast invertir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · id berinvestasi (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi valtuuttaa (to formally give power) · hu invesztál (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · la circumsedeo (to lay siege to) · es entregarse a (to be involved in; to form strong attachments to) · eo investi (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · pt investir (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · hu beruház (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · th ลงทุน (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · uk інвестува́ти (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi piirittää (to lay siege to) · tl mamuhunan (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · pt investir (to formally give power) · fr investir (to formally give power) · pt investir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi sijoittaa (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · pt assediar (to lay siege to) · bg обсаждам (to lay siege to) · mn ᠬᠥᠷᠦᠩᠭᠡ ᠣᠷᠤᠭᠤᠯᠬᠤ (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ru покрыва́ть (to envelop, wrap, cover) · ru надели́ть (to formally give power) · ru вложи́ть (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · es insumir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · bg влагам (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · fr consacrer (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · es invertir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ru вложи́ть (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · sv investera (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · cmn 投 (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · cs investovat (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · lv ieguldīt (to make investments) · it investire (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · pt cobrir (to envelop, wrap, cover) · vi đầu tư (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · km ធ្វើវិនិយោគ (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ja 投資する (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ru вкла́дывать (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · mn хөрөнгө оруулах (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · de investieren (to make investments) · pt investir (to ceremonially install into office) · pl zainwestować (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ca invertir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi peitellä (to envelop, wrap, cover) · bg обгръщам с (to envelop, wrap, cover) · eo investi (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · sv investera (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · cmn 投入 (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · mn ᠪᠡᠯᠡ ᠣᠷᠤᠭᠤᠯᠬᠤ (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · de investieren (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · th ลงทุนลงแรง (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · mi whakangao (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · bg обличам (to envelop, wrap, cover) · ru вкла́дывать (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · nl beleggen (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · cmn 投資 /投资 (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · la collocō (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · la collocō (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · hu befektet (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · pt investir (to make investments) · ru инвести́ровать (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi investoida (to make investments) · ms melabur (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ca invertir (to make investments) · ru покры́ть (to envelop, wrap, cover) · es involucrarse emocionalmente en (to be involved in; to form strong attachments to) · fr investir (to ceremonially install into office) · fr investir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · tr yatırım yapmak (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · es invertirse en (to be involved in; to form strong attachments to) · pl inwestować (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · lv ieguldīt (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · th ลงทุน (to make investments) · uk вклада́ти (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ca invertir (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · fi käyttää (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · it investire (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · fi satsata (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · fi kaavata (to create an investment mold) · ar اِسْتَثْمَرَ (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · sw wekeza (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · cmn 投資 /投资 (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · mn бэл оруулах (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · es insumir (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · hu befektet (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi nimittää (to ceremonially install into office) · ru наделя́ть (to formally give power) · mi whakangao moni (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · bg инвестирам (to make investments) · gl investir (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ko 투자하다 (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · de investieren (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · hy ներդնել (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · hy ներդնել (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fr investir (to make investments) · es invertir (to make investments) · pt sitiar (to lay siege to) · uk вкла́сти (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · da investere (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · pt cercar (to lay siege to) · fi panostaa (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · ca investir (to formally give power) · sw wekeza (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · be інвестава́ць (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · th ลงทุน (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · he השקיע (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · ja 投入する (to spend money, time, and effort into something) · ca investir (to ceremonially install into office) · fa سرمایهگذاری کردن (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · mi whakaoati (to ceremonially install into office) · no investere (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · fi investoida (to commit resources in the hope of financial gain) · es investir (to ceremonially install into office) · es invertir (to spend money, time, and effort into something)

invest en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈvɛst/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɪnˈvest/ (Australia)
• (London) audio
• (California) audio

Etymology

Clipping of investigate.

Meanings

1. A designated area of disturbed weather that is being monitored for potential tropical cyclone development.

Forms