Meaning of divest in English

Table of contents

Verb
divest
Etymology
early 17th century: alteration of devest, from Old French desvestir, from des- (expressing removal) + Latin vestire (from vestis‘garment’)
Definitions
1. take away possessions from someone
Examples
- « The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets »
Derived terms
2. deprive of status or authority
Examples
- « he was divested of his rights and his title »
- « They disinvested themselves of their rights »
Antonyms
3. reduce or dispose of
Examples
- « cease to hold (an investment) »
- « The company decided to divest »
- « the board of trustees divested $20 million in real estate property »
- « There was pressure on the univeristy to disinvest in South Africa »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- disinvestment
- divestiture
4. remove (someone's or one's own) clothes
Examples
- « The nurse quickly undressed the accident victim »
- « She divested herself of her outdoor clothes »
- « He disinvested himself of his garments »
Derived terms

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« But when you're writing a script - for me anyway - you have to sort of create an enforced innocence. You have to divest yourself of worrying about a lot of stuff like what movies are hot, what movies are not hot, what the budget of this movie might be. »
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« As we divest ourselves of once familiar physical objects - digitize and dematerialize - we approach a 'Star Trek' future in which everything can be accessed from the fourth dimension with a few clicks or terse audibles. »
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