vest

C2+ Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /vɛst/ UK /vɛst/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like best /v/ vs /b/ Sounds like west /v/ vs /w/

Meanings

1

noun
a sleeveless garment; to confer or become entitled to a right

The pension rights vest after five years of service.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sleeveless garment; to... confer endow entrust invest bestow waistcoat

Opposites

divest strip withhold

Word family

Derived forms vestedvesting

Related forms invest divest vestmentvesture

Simplified etymology

Vest entered English in the late Middle Ages from the Latin family of vestis, “clothing.” The same Latin root produced invest, whose earliest sense was “to put clothes on someone.”

Etymology

From Latin 'vestire' ('to clothe'), from 'vestis' ('garment, clothing'). The legal sense 'to put in possession' derives from the figurative notion of clothing someone with authority.

vestire Latin vestis Latin *wes- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance

External links

# vest

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /vɛst/
**IPA (UK):** /vɛst/

## Meanings
1. a sleeveless garment; to confer or become entitled to a right

## Examples
- The pension rights vest after five years of service.

## Synonyms
- confer
- endow
- entrust
- invest
- bestow
- waistcoat

## Antonyms
- divest
- strip
- withhold

## Derived Forms
- vested
- vesting

## Related Forms
- invest
- divest
- vestment
- vesture

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: vestire
- Root: vestis
- Root: *wes-

## Etymology
From Latin 'vestire' ('to clothe'), from 'vestis' ('garment, clothing'). The legal sense 'to put in possession' derives from the figurative notion of clothing someone with authority.

## AI Etymology
Vest comes from Latin 'vestire' ('to clothe'), from 'vestis' ('garment, clothing'). The legal sense 'to put in possession' derives from the figurative notion of clothing someone with authority. The form is best read as a historical transfer or inheritance, with its older language material carrying the main semantic load. As a noun and verb, it denotes "a sleeveless garment; to confer or become entitled to a right", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Latin vestire, Latin vestis, and Proto-Indo-European *wes-. Derivative forms include vested, vesting; related words include invest, divest, vestment, vesture.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance

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