investiture (n.)

late 14c., "ceremony of clothing in the insignia of office," from Medieval Latin investitura "an investing," from past participle stem of Latin investire "to clothe" (see invest). Related: Investive.

Entries linking to investiture

invest (v.)

late 14c., "to clothe in the official robes of an office," from Latin investire "to clothe in, cover, surround," from in "in, into" (from PIE root *en "in") + vestire "to dress, clothe," from PIE *wes- (2) "to clothe," extended form of root *eu- "to dress."

The meaning "use money to produce profit" is attested from 1610s in connection with the East Indies trade, and it is probably a borrowing of a special use of Italian investire (13c., from the same Latin root) via the notion of giving one's capital a new form. The figurative sense of "to clothe (with attributes)" is from c. 1600. The military meaning "to besiege, surround with hostile intent" also is from c. 1600. Related: Invested; investing.

divestiture (n.)

c. 1600, "act of stripping or depriving," from divest on analogy of investiture. Economics sense is by 1955.

investment (n.)

1590s, "act of putting on vestments" (a sense now found in investiture); later "act of being invested with an office, right, endowment, etc." (1640s); and "surrounding and besieging" of a military target (1811); from invest + -ment.

Commercial sense of "an investing of money or capital" is from 1610s, originally in reference to the East India Company; general use is from 1740 in the sense of "conversion of money to property in hopes of profit," and by 1837 in the sense "amount of money invested." For evolution of the commercial senses, see invest.

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updated on December 29, 2015

Definitions of investiture from WordNet

investiture (n.)

the ceremony of installing a new monarch;

Synonyms: coronation / enthronement / enthronization / enthronisation

investiture (n.)

the ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank;

Synonyms: investment

From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near investiture

investigable

investigate

investigation

investigative

investigator

investiture

investment

investor

inveteracy

inveterate

inviable