divest

divest
divest
The traditional uses of divest are as a somewhat formal word meaning ‘to undress’ and, in the reflexive form divest oneself of, in the sense ‘to dispossess oneself of’ (typically with reference to rights, powers, etc., or as a humorous alternative to ‘get rid of’:

• By about 1900,… you were generally well-advised to divest yourself of a regional accent if you wanted to rise and get on in the world —Daily Mail, 2004).

These uses were supplemented in the 1950s, first in AmE and then elsewhere, by the financial meanings ‘to sell off (a subsidiary company)’ and ‘to cease to hold (an investment)’:

• We are continually evaluating our asset base to divest assets that are not required for future operations —Lloyd's List, 2004.

The corresponding noun is divestment.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • divest — di‧vest [daɪˈvest, d ] verb FINANCE 1. [transitive] if a group divests one of the companies that it owns, it gets rid of it by selling it: • We fulfilled our commitment to shareholders to divest our downstream business by creating a new company …   Financial and business terms

  • divest of — [phrasal verb] formal 1 divest (someone or something) of (something) : to take (something) away from (someone or something else) : to cause (someone or something) to lose or give up (something) The document does not divest her of her right to use …   Useful english dictionary

  • Divest — Di*vest , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Divested}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Divesting}.] [LL. divestire (di = dis + L. vestire to dress), equiv. to L. devestire. It is the same word as devest, but the latter is rarely used except as a technical term in law. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • divest — di·vest /dī vest, də / vt [Anglo French devestir, literally, to undress, from Old French desvestir, from de(s) , prefix marking reversal + vestir to dress, from Latin vestire]: to deprive or dispossess (oneself) of property through divestiture… …   Law dictionary

  • divest of — index abridge (divest) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • divest — ► VERB (divest of) 1) deprive or dispossess (someone or something) of. 2) free or rid of. ORIGIN Old French desvestir, from Latin vestire clothe …   English terms dictionary

  • divest — [də vest′, dīvest′] vt. [altered < DEVEST] 1. to strip of clothing, equipment, etc. 2. to deprive or dispossess of rank, rights, etc. 3. to disencumber or rid of something unwanted 4. Law DEVEST SYN. STRIP …   English World dictionary

  • divest — 1560s, devest (modern spelling is c.1600), from M.Fr. devester strip of possessions, from O.Fr. desvestir, from des away (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + vestir to clothe (see VEST (Cf. vest) (v.)). The figurative sense of strip of possessions is earliest… …   Etymology dictionary

  • divest — *strip, denude, bare, dismantle Antonyms: invest, vest (in robes of office, with power or authority): apparel, clothe …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • divest — [v] dispossess; take off bankrupt, bare, bereave, bleed, denudate, denude, deprive, despoil, disinherit, dismantle, disrobe, ditch*, doff, dump, eighty six*, lose, milk*, oust, plunder, remove, rob, seize, spoil, strip, take from, unclothe,… …   New thesaurus

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