invest

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
invest/ɪnˈvest/

▶verb

• 1 put money into financial schemes, shares, or property with the expectation of achieving a profit.

  ■ devote (one's time or energy) to an undertaking with the expectation of a worthwhile result.

  ■ (invest in) informal buy (a product) whose usefulness will repay the cost.

• 2 (invest someone/thing with) endow someone or something with (a particular quality or attribute).

  ■ endow someone with (a rank or office).

  ■ (invest something in) establish a right or power in.

• 3 archaic clothe or cover with a garment.

• 4 archaic surround (a place) in order to besiege or blockade it.

– derivatives
investable adjective,
investible adjective,
investor noun.

– origin C16: from Fr. investir or L. investire, from in- ‘into, upon’ + vestire ‘clothe’; sense 1 is influenced by Ital. investire.