sequester

sequestration; separation

Noun

  1. sequestration; separation
    • A sequester from liberty , fasting , and prayer - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
  2. A person with whom two or more contending parties deposit the subject matter of the controversy; one who mediates between two parties; a referee
  3. A sequestrum.

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”).

Forms

sequesters

Verb

  1. To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw.
    • The jury was sequestered from the press by the judge's order.
    • when men most sequester themselves from action - [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
  2. To separate in order to store.
    • The coal burning plant was ordered to sequester its CO₂ emissions.
    • There has been some investigation into the potential of seaweeds as a carbon store, and although more is needed, one study says that seaweed habitats are believed to be the most productive of all coastal vegetated...
  3. To set apart; to put aside; to remove; to separate from other things.
    • I had wholly sequestered my thoughts from civil affairs. - a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right...

    Synonyms: allocate appropriate shelve assign dedicate detach designate earmark preselect put aside secern secernate separate sepose sequester set apart set aside

  4. To prevent an ion in solution from behaving normally by forming a coordination compound.
  5. To temporarily remove (property) from the possession of its owner and hold it as security against legal claims.
  6. To cause (one) to submit to the process of sequestration; to deprive (one) of one's estate, property, etc.
    • c. 1694, Robert South, sermon XXIV It was his tailor and his cook, his fine fashions and his French ragouts, which sequestered him.
  7. To remove (certain funds) automatically from a budget.
    • The Budget Control Act of 2011 sequestered 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years on January 2, 2013.
  8. To seize and hold enemy property.
  9. To withdraw; to retire.
    • to sequester out of the world into Atlantic and Utopian politics - 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
  10. To renounce (as a widow may) any concern with the estate of her husband.

Forms

sequesters sequestering sequestered

Synonyms

segregate

Related

sequel sequence sequacious segue

Derived

biosequester cryosequester geosequester resequester sequesterable sequestered adjective sequesterer sequesterment sequestrable adjective sequestrate verb sequestration noun sequestrator noun