Divest vs. Invest — What's the Difference?

To strip, as of clothes.

To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return

To deprive, as of rights or property; dispossess.

To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit

To free of; rid

To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit

To sell off or otherwise dispose of (a subsidiary company or an investment).

To endow with authority or power

(Law) To devest.

To install in office with ceremony

(transitive) To strip, deprive, or dispossess (someone) of something (such as a right, passion, privilege, or prejudice).

To provide with an enveloping or pervasive quality

To sell off or be rid of through sale, especially of a subsidiary.

To clothe; adorn.

To undress.

To cover completely; envelop.

To unclothe; to strip, as of clothes, arms, or equipage; - opposed to invest.

To surround with troops or ships; besiege.

Fig.: To strip; to deprive; to dispossess; as, to divest one of his rights or privileges; to divest one's self of prejudices, passions, etc.

To make investments or an investment

See Devest.

To purchase with the expectation of benefit

Take away possessions from someone;

To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in.

Deprive of status or authority;

To clothe or wrap (with garments).

Reduce or dispose of; cease to hold (an investment);

To put on (clothing).

Remove (someone's or one's own) clothes;

To envelop, wrap, cover.

To commit money or capital in the hope of financial gain.

To ceremonially install someone in some office.

To formally give (someone) some power or authority.

To formally give (power or authority).

To surround, accompany, or attend.

To lay siege to.

(intransitive) To make investments.

(metallurgy) To prepare for lost wax casting by creating an investment mold (a mixture of a silica sand and plaster).

(intransitive) To cause to be involved in; to cause to form strong attachments to.

(meteorology) An unnamed tropical weather pattern "to investigate" for development into a significant (named) system.

To put garments on; to clothe; to dress; to array; - opposed to divest. Usually followed by with, sometimes by in; as, to invest one with a robe.

To put on.

To clothe, as with office or authority; to place in possession of rank, dignity, or estate; to endow; to adorn; to grace; to bedeck; as, to invest with honor or glory; to invest with an estate.

To surround, accompany, or attend.

To confer; to give.

To inclose; to surround or hem in with troops, so as to intercept reinforcements of men and provisions and prevent escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town.

To lay out (money or capital) in business with the view of obtaining an income or profit; as, to invest money in bank stock.

To expend (time, money, or other resources) with a view to obtaining some benefit of value in excess of that expended, or to achieve a useful pupose; as, to invest a lot of time in teaching one's children.

To make an investment; as, to invest in stocks; - usually followed by in.

Make an investment;

Give qualities or abilities to

Furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors

Provide with power and authority;

Place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position;