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vest

Pronunciation: /vɛst/

The English word “vest” has 14 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
  2. A sleeveless garment, often with a low-cut neck, usually worn under a shirt or blouse.
  3. A sleeveless top, typically with identifying colours or logos, worn by an athlete or member of a sports team.
  4. Any sleeveless outer garment, often for a purpose such as identification, safety, or storage.
  5. A vestment.
  6. Clothing generally; array; garb.
  7. A loose robe or outer garment worn historically by men in Arab or Middle Eastern countries.

verb

  1. To clothe with, or as with, a vestment, or garment; to dress; to robe; to cover, surround, or encompass closely.
  2. To clothe with authority, power, etc.; to put in possession; to invest; to furnish; to endow; followed by with and the thing conferred.
  3. To place or give into the possession or discretion of some person or authority; to commit to another; with in before the possessor.
  4. To clothe with possession; also, to give a person an immediate fixed right of present or future enjoyment of.
  5. (of an inheritance or a trust fund) To devolve upon the person currently entitled when a prior interest has ended.
  6. To become vested, to become permanent.
  7. To invest; to put.

Etymology

Derived from French veste (“a vest, jacket”), from Latin vestis (“a garment, gown, robe, vestment, clothing, vesture”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis, from *wes- (“to be dressed”) (English wear). Cognate with Sanskrit वस्त्र (vastra) and Spanish vestir.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.