n. [ L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [ 1913 Webster ]

In state attended by her maiden train,
Who bore the vests that holy rites require. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any outer covering; array; garb. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not seldom clothed in radiant vest
Deceitfully goes forth the morn. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Specifically, a waistcoat, or sleeveless body garment, for men, worn under the coat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Garment; vesture; dress; robe; vestment; waistcoat. -- Vest, Waistcoat. In England, the original word waistcoat is generally used for the body garment worn over the shirt and immediately under the coat. In the United States this garment is commonly called a vest, and the waistcoat is often improperly given to an under-garment. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To come or descend; to be fixed; to take effect, as a title or right; -- followed by in; as, upon the death of the ancestor, the estate, or the right to the estate, vests in the heir at law. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Vested; p. pr. & vb. n. Vesting. ] [ Cf. L. vestire, vestitum, OF. vestir, F. vêtir. See Vest, n. ] 1. To clothe with, or as with, a vestment, or garment; to dress; to robe; to cover, surround, or encompass closely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Came vested all in white, pure as her mind. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

With ether vested, and a purple sky. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To clothe with authority, power, or the like; to put in possession; to invest; to furnish; to endow; -- followed by with before the thing conferred; as, to vest a court with power to try cases of life and death. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I been vested with the monarch's power. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To place or give into the possession or discretion of some person or authority; to commit to another; -- with in before the possessor; as, the power of life and death is vested in the king, or in the courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Empire and dominion was [ were ] vested in him. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To invest; to put; as, to vest money in goods, land, or houses. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) To clothe with possession; as, to vest a person with an estate; also, to give a person an immediate fixed right of present or future enjoyment of; as, an estate is vested in possession. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Vesta, akin to Gr. "Esti`a Vesta, "esti`a the hearth of the house, and perhaps to Skr. ush to burn (see East), or perhaps to Skr. vas to dwell, and E. was. ] 1. (Rom. Myth.) One of the great divinities of the ancient Romans, identical with the Greek Hestia. She was a virgin, and the goddess of the hearth; hence, also, of the fire on it, and the family round it. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) An asteroid, or minor planet, discovered by Olbers in 1807. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A wax friction match. Simmonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Vestalis (sc. virgo): cf. F. vestale. See Vestal, a. ] 1. (Rom. Antiq.) A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The Vestals were originally four, but afterward six, in number. Their term of service lasted thirty years, the period of admission being from the sixth to the tenth year of the candidate's age. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A virgin; a woman pure and chaste; also, a nun. [ 1913 Webster ]

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta. ] Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Vestal. ] (Zool.) A group of butterflies including those known as virgins, or gossamer-winged butterflies. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Clothed; robed; wearing vestments. “The vested priest.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Not in a state of contingency or suspension; fixed; as, vested rights; vested interests. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vested legacy (Law), a legacy the right to which commences in praesenti, and does not depend on a contingency; as, a legacy to one to be paid when he attains to twenty-one years of age is a vested legacy, and if the legatee dies before the testator, his representative shall receive it. Blackstone. --
Vested remainder (Law), an estate settled, to remain to a determined person, after the particular estate is spent. Blackstone. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

. 1. a special personal interest, usually financial, in an existing system, law, or institution, which hinders a person from making objective decisions regarding that system, law, or institution. A vested interest may be one which benefits a relative, or, in an extended sense, one which defends a person's own reputation or previously expressed views. [ PJC ]

2. a right given to an employee by a pension plan, which cannot be taken away. [ PJC ]

3. pl. the persons, corporations, or other groups which benefit most (usually financially) from the existing system of institutions, laws, and customs. [ PJC ]

. In Ireland, a national school which has been built by the aid of grants from the board of Commissioners of National Education and is secured for educational purposes by leases to the commissioners themselves, or to the commissioners and the trustees. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]