divest

Divest is defined as to take something away from someone, or to rid yourself of something.

(verb)

When you take power away from the president of a club, this is an example of a time when you divest.
When you get rid of poorly performing investments, this is an example of a time when you divest your portfolio.

See divest in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb

Origin: altered < devest

See divest in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb di·vest·ed, di·vest·ing, di·vests

To strip, as of clothes.
a. To deprive, as of rights or property; dispossess.
b. To free of; rid: “Most secretive of men, let him at last divest himself of secrets, both his and ours” (Brendan Gill).
To sell off or otherwise dispose of (a subsidiary company or an investment).
Law To devest.

Origin:

Origin: Alteration (influenced by Medieval Latin dīvestīre, to undress)

Origin: of devest

Related Forms: