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Q&A How's inVEST semantically related to VEST? How did the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" arise?

Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty? This semantic relationship would never cross the mind of an amateur re...

1 answer · posted 2y ago by PSTH‭ · edited 1y ago by PSTH‭

Question etymology

#3: Post edited by

PSTH‭ · 2022-10-29T01:27:30Z (over 1 year ago)

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How's inVESTing semantically related to VEST? Isn't the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" insane?

How's inVEST semantically related to VEST? How did the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" arise?

Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty and nutty? This semantic relationship probably would never cross the mind of a retail amateur investor in 2021.
Before I read these quotations below, I had never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing one's capital up" in financial securities or investments, e.g. stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc.
~~>### invest [16]~~
>The etymological notion underlying
invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old
French *investir* from Latin *investīre*, a compound
verb formed from the prefix *in-* and *vestis*
‘clothes’ (source of English *vest, vestment,
travesty*, etc). It retained that original literal
sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries,
but now it survives only in its metaphorical
descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally
performed by clothing in special garments). **Its
financial sense, first recorded in English in the
early 17th century, is thought to have originated
in Italian *investire* from the idea of dressing
one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it
into a particular business, stock, etc.**
*Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 291.
~~[Invest - 9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word-origins/invest)~~
> The financial meaning of the word also descends from Latin, but it entered English via Italian in the early 17th century. In Italian, _investire_ developed a special sense fabricated from the notion of "clothing" money in a new form. That use was attached to the English word _invest_, which eventually came to refer to a commitment of money to earn a return. This financial sense of _invest_ is attested in the early 1600s in connection with trading by the East India Company.
~~['Invest': Dress for Success](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/invest-word-history)~~
>_Vest_ is also a verb in English, but a funny thing happened in the Middle Ages to this Latin-based word: it jumped in meaning from simply “to clothe” to the more bureaucratic definition of “to give (someone) the legal right or power to do something or to own land or property.” This meaning solidifies a metaphorical use of “to vest” in Latin that was closer to “to surround” or “to adorn,” as in: “adorned with the robes of office.” The official robes worn by clergy were the symbols of their positions and, perhaps unsurprisingly, called [_vestments_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vestment). Wearing these clothes was a public claim on power, salary, and status.
>
>This is why we sometimes hear the phrase “by the powers vested in me.” The use of [_vested_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vested) as an adjective meaning “fully and unconditionally guaranteed as a legal right, benefit, or privilege” (as in “fully vested”) came into the language in the 1700s.
>
>[ . . . ]
>
>## The Origin of 'Invest'
>
>A similar change happened at this time to a parallel verb that entered English about a century later: _invest_. The Latin verb _investire_ meant “to clothe” or “to surround” (the prefix _in-_ + _vestīre_ meant “to dress,” “to clothe”; the etymology of _invest_ literally means “in clothes”). In Medieval Latin, this verb took on the same specific bureaucratic meaning that _vest_ had acquired, and this meaning was duly transferred to this word’s descendants in French and English. The noun form of this term initially was the Latinate word [_investiture_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investiture), with its younger cousin [_investment_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investment) arriving more than two centuries later.

Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty? This semantic relationship would never cross the mind of an amateur retail investor!
Before reading these quotations below, I never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing one's capital up" in financial securities e.g. stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc.!
### *Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 291.
>#### invest [16]
>The etymological notion underlying
invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old
French *investir* from Latin *investīre*, a compound
verb formed from the prefix *in-* and *vestis*
‘clothes’ (source of English *vest, vestment,
travesty*, etc). It retained that original literal
sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries,
but now it survives only in its metaphorical
descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally
performed by clothing in special garments). **Its
financial sense, first recorded in English in the
early 17th century, is thought to have originated
in Italian *investire* from the idea of dressing
one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it
into a particular business, stock, etc.**
### [Invest - 9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word-origins/invest)
> The financial meaning of the word also descends from Latin, but it entered English via Italian in the early 17th century. In Italian, _investire_ developed a special sense fabricated from the notion of "clothing" money in a new form. That use was attached to the English word _invest_, which eventually came to refer to a commitment of money to earn a return. This financial sense of _invest_ is attested in the early 1600s in connection with trading by the East India Company.
### ['Invest': Dress for Success](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/invest-word-history)
>_Vest_ is also a verb in English, but a funny thing happened in the Middle Ages to this Latin-based word: it jumped in meaning from simply “to clothe” to the more bureaucratic definition of “to give (someone) the legal right or power to do something or to own land or property.” This meaning solidifies a metaphorical use of “to vest” in Latin that was closer to “to surround” or “to adorn,” as in: “adorned with the robes of office.” The official robes worn by clergy were the symbols of their positions and, perhaps unsurprisingly, called [_vestments_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vestment). Wearing these clothes was a public claim on power, salary, and status.
>
>This is why we sometimes hear the phrase “by the powers vested in me.” The use of [_vested_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vested) as an adjective meaning “fully and unconditionally guaranteed as a legal right, benefit, or privilege” (as in “fully vested”) came into the language in the 1700s.
>
>[ . . . ]
>
>## The Origin of 'Invest'
>
>A similar change happened at this time to a parallel verb that entered English about a century later: _invest_. The Latin verb _investire_ meant “to clothe” or “to surround” (the prefix _in-_ + _vestīre_ meant “to dress,” “to clothe”; the etymology of _invest_ literally means “in clothes”). In Medieval Latin, this verb took on the same specific bureaucratic meaning that _vest_ had acquired, and this meaning was duly transferred to this word’s descendants in French and English. The noun form of this term initially was the Latinate word [_investiture_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investiture), with its younger cousin [_investment_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investment) arriving more than two centuries later.

#2: Post edited by

PSTH‭ · 2022-01-28T04:31:06Z (about 2 years ago)

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Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty and nutty? This semantic relationship probably would never cross the mind of a retail amateur investor in 2021.
Before I read these quotations below, I had never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing one's capital up" in financial securities or investments, e.g. stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc.
>### invest [16]
>The etymological notion underlying
invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old
French *investir* from Latin *investīre*, a compound
verb formed from the prefix *in-* and *vestis*
‘clothes’ (source of English *vest, vestment,
travesty*, etc). It retained that original literal
sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries,
but now it survives only in its metaphorical
descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally
performed by clothing in special garments). **Its
financial sense, first recorded in English in the
early 17th century, is thought to have originated
in Italian *investire* from the idea of dressing
one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it
into a particular business, stock, etc.**
*Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 291.
[Invest - 9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word-origins/invest)
> The financial meaning of the word also descends from Latin, but it entered English via Italian in the early 17th century. In Italian, _investire_ developed a special sense fabricated from the notion of "clothing" money in a new form. That use was attached to the English word _invest_, which eventually came to refer to a commitment of money to earn a return. This financial sense of _invest_ is attested in the early 1600s in connection with trading by the East India Company.

Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty and nutty? This semantic relationship probably would never cross the mind of a retail amateur investor in 2021.
Before I read these quotations below, I had never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing one's capital up" in financial securities or investments, e.g. stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc.
>### invest [16]
>The etymological notion underlying
invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old
French *investir* from Latin *investīre*, a compound
verb formed from the prefix *in-* and *vestis*
‘clothes’ (source of English *vest, vestment,
travesty*, etc). It retained that original literal
sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries,
but now it survives only in its metaphorical
descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally
performed by clothing in special garments). **Its
financial sense, first recorded in English in the
early 17th century, is thought to have originated
in Italian *investire* from the idea of dressing
one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it
into a particular business, stock, etc.**
*Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 291.
[Invest - 9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word-origins/invest)
> The financial meaning of the word also descends from Latin, but it entered English via Italian in the early 17th century. In Italian, _investire_ developed a special sense fabricated from the notion of "clothing" money in a new form. That use was attached to the English word _invest_, which eventually came to refer to a commitment of money to earn a return. This financial sense of _invest_ is attested in the early 1600s in connection with trading by the East India Company.
['Invest': Dress for Success](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/invest-word-history)
>_Vest_ is also a verb in English, but a funny thing happened in the Middle Ages to this Latin-based word: it jumped in meaning from simply “to clothe” to the more bureaucratic definition of “to give (someone) the legal right or power to do something or to own land or property.” This meaning solidifies a metaphorical use of “to vest” in Latin that was closer to “to surround” or “to adorn,” as in: “adorned with the robes of office.” The official robes worn by clergy were the symbols of their positions and, perhaps unsurprisingly, called [_vestments_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vestment). Wearing these clothes was a public claim on power, salary, and status.
>
>This is why we sometimes hear the phrase “by the powers vested in me.” The use of [_vested_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vested) as an adjective meaning “fully and unconditionally guaranteed as a legal right, benefit, or privilege” (as in “fully vested”) came into the language in the 1700s.
>
>[ . . . ]
>
>## The Origin of 'Invest'
>
>A similar change happened at this time to a parallel verb that entered English about a century later: _invest_. The Latin verb _investire_ meant “to clothe” or “to surround” (the prefix _in-_ + _vestīre_ meant “to dress,” “to clothe”; the etymology of _invest_ literally means “in clothes”). In Medieval Latin, this verb took on the same specific bureaucratic meaning that _vest_ had acquired, and this meaning was duly transferred to this word’s descendants in French and English. The noun form of this term initially was the Latinate word [_investiture_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investiture), with its younger cousin [_investment_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/investment) arriving more than two centuries later.

#1: Initial revision by

PSTH‭ · 2021-11-14T05:46:51Z (over 2 years ago)

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How's inVESTing semantically related to VEST? Isn't the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" insane?

Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty and nutty? This semantic relationship probably would never cross the mind of a retail amateur investor in 2021.

Before I read these quotations below, I had never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing one's capital up" in financial securities or investments, e.g. stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc. 

>### invest [16] 
>The etymological notion underlying
invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old
French *investir* from Latin *investīre*, a compound
verb formed from the prefix *in-* and *vestis*
‘clothes’ (source of English *vest, vestment,
travesty*, etc). It retained that original literal
sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries,
but now it survives only in its metaphorical
descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally
performed by clothing in special garments). **Its
financial sense, first recorded in English in the
early 17th century, is thought to have originated
in Italian *investire* from the idea of dressing
one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it
into a particular business, stock, etc.**

*Word Origins* (2005 2e) by John Ayto, p 291.

[Invest - 9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins | Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/financial-word-origins/invest)

> The financial meaning of the word also descends from Latin, but it entered English via Italian in the early 17th century. In Italian, _investire_ developed a special sense fabricated from the notion of "clothing" money in a new form. That use was attached to the English word _invest_, which eventually came to refer to a commitment of money to earn a return. This financial sense of _invest_ is attested in the early 1600s in connection with trading by the East India Company.

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