Vests

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A sleeveless piece of clothing worn on the torso ; to give someone legal rights or control over something ; to legally transfer ownership or rights to an individual or group
2. An article of clothing typically worn under a jacket ; to grant or bestow entitlement or authority ; to convey legal possession or control
3. A garment covering the upper body without sleeves ; to confer legal rights or privileges officially ; to assign property or rights through law or contract

Etymology: "Vests" is the plural of "vest," and the plural form is the easiest way into the history, since the noun and the verb branch from the same Latin source. The garment sense comes from French "veste," meaning a jacket or sleeveless coat, which in turn descends from Latin "vestis," a general word for clothing, robe, or garment. That Latin root traces back to a reconstructed prehistoric form tied to the idea of being dressed, the same ancestral stem that gave English "wear." The verb senses, to grant entitlement or to confer legal possession, follow a different path within the same family. Latin "vestire," to clothe, carried the sense of dressing someone in a garment, and that image of putting on clothing became a metaphor for conferring rights or office, as if a person were being dressed in authority. Spanish "vestir," meaning to dress, preserves the older clothing sense the English verb moved away from.

Synonyms: waistcoats, sleeveless garments