Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Invest \In*vest"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Invested}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Investing}.] [L. investire, investitum; pref. in- in +
   vestire to clothe, fr. vestis clothing: cf. F. investir. See
   {Vest}.]
   1. To put garments on; to clothe; to dress; to array; --
      opposed to {divest}. Usually followed by with, sometimes
      by in; as, to invest one with a robe.

   2. To put on. [Obs.]

            Can not find one this girdle to invest. --Spenser.

   3. To clothe, as with office or authority; to place in
      possession of rank, dignity, or estate; to endow; to
      adorn; to grace; to bedeck; as, to invest with honor or
      glory; to invest with an estate.

            I do invest you jointly with my power. --Shak.

   4. To surround, accompany, or attend.

            Awe such as must always invest the spectacle of the
            guilt.                                --Hawthorne.

   5. To confer; to give. [R.]

            It investeth a right of government.   --Bacon.

   6. (Mil.) To inclose; to surround of hem in with troops, so
      as to intercept succors of men and provisions and prevent
      escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town.

   7. To lay out (money or capital) in business with the ?iew of
      obtaining an income or profit; as, to invest money in bank
      stock.

Source : WordNet®

investing
     n : the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an
         enterprise with the expectation of profit [syn: {investment}]