DIVEST
divest, disinvest
(verb) reduce or dispose of; 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 university to disinvest in South Africa”
deprive, strip, divest
(verb) take away possessions from someone; “The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets”
divest, disinvest
(verb) deprive of status or authority; “he was divested of his rights and his title”; “They disinvested themselves of their rights”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
divest (third-person singular simple present divests, present participle divesting, simple past and past participle divested)
(transitive) To strip, deprive, or dispossess (someone) of something (such as a right, passion, privilege, or prejudice).
Synonyms: deprive, dispossess
(transitive, finance) To sell off or be rid of through sale, especially of a subsidiary.
Synonym: sell off
Antonym: invest
(transitive, archaic) To undress.
Synonyms: undress, disrobe
Antonym: dress
Usage notes
In sense "sell off", stronger than related disinvest, which instead means "reduce or cease new investment".
Anagrams
• divets, stived
Source: Wiktionary
Di*vest", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Divested; p. pr. & vb. n. Divesting.]
Etym: [LL. divestire (di- = dis- + L. vestire to dress), equiv. to L.
devestire. It is the same word as devest, but the latter is rarely
used except as a technical term in law. See Devest, Vest.]
1. To unclothe; to strip, as of clothes, arms, or equipage; --
opposed to invest.
2. 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.
Wretches divested of every moral feeling. Goldsmith.
The tendency of the language to divest itself of its gutturals.
Earle.
3. (Law)
Definition: See Devest. Mozley & W.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition