Link Centre Dictionary

sequester

se·ques·ter

UK/sɪˈkwɛs.tə/ US/səˈkwɛs.tə/ uncommon dated us

verb

1.

requisition forcibly, as of enemy property

  • “the estate was sequestered”
2.

take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority

  • “The FBI seized the drugs”
  • “The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment”
  • “The police confiscated the stolen artwork”
Synonyms
3.

undergo sequestration by forming a stable compound with an ion

  • “The cations were sequestered”
4.

keep away from others

  • “He sequestered himself in his study to write a book”
Synonyms
5.

set apart from others

  • “The dentist sequesters the tooth he is working on”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English sequestren (verb) and sequestre (noun), from Old French sequestrer, from Late Latin sequestrō (“separate, give up for safekeeping”), from Latin sequester (“mediator, depositary”), probably originally meaning "follower", from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“follow”).

Phrases

  • sequestered adjective
  • sequestrable adjective
  • sequestrate verb
  • sequestration noun
  • sequestrator noun

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.