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.
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.
It investeth a right of government. Bacon.
6. (Mil.) To inclose; to surround or 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 view of obtaining an income or profit; as, to invest money in bank stock.