Vested

How to spell vested

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce vested

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vested mean?

1. adjectiveSecured as a firm right or personal stake that cannot easily be removed.
2. verbConferred authority, power, or property on a person or body (past tense of vest).

Vested in a sentence

• adjective

  The landlords had a vested interest in keeping the rents high.

• verb

  The new charter vested all planning powers in the local council.

• adjective

  After five years of service her pension benefits became fully vested.

• verb

  The will vested the entire estate in his two daughters.

Where does vested come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb vestire, meaning 'to clothe' or 'to dress', which itself grew from vestis, the everyday word for a garment. English took up vest in the 1400s, first in the sense of clothing someone, and the same root still dresses the words 'vestment' and the sleeveless 'vest'. From the idea of formally robing a person came the figurative legal sense: to 'vest' authority or property in someone was to clothe them with a secure right, much as a ceremony might clothe a new official in robes of office. The participle 'vested' settled into law and finance to describe rights, powers, or pension benefits that have become fixed and cannot be taken away. The familiar phrase 'a vested interest' simply means a personal stake one is clothed in, and the spelling stays regular because the simple stem vest takes a plain -ed ending.

How the word is built

• vest (from Latin vestire, to clothe)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)