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sequester

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "sequester", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "sequester" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "sequester" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

sequester is aEnglishverb. It means: To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw. Pronounced /sɪˈkwɛs.tə/.

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Key facts for sequester
PropertyValue
Headwordsequester
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/sɪˈkwɛs.tə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#50,797
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of sequester in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for sequester is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪˈkwɛs.tə/. Corpus data places it at rank #50,797 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for sequester in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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-E… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is sequester, spelled S-E-Q-U-E-S-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw.
  2. 2
    To separate in order to store.
  3. 3
    To set apart; to put aside; to remove; to separate from other things.
  4. 4
    To prevent an ion in solution from behaving normally by forming a coordination compound.
  5. 5
    To temporarily remove (property) from the possession of its owner and hold it as security against legal claims.
  6. 6
    To cause (one) to submit to the process of sequestration; to deprive (one) of one's estate, property, etc.
  7. 7
    To remove (certain funds) automatically from a budget.
  8. 8
    To seize and hold enemy property.
  9. 9
    To withdraw; to retire.
  10. 10
    To renounce (as a widow may) any concern with the estate of her husband.

Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #50,797 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sequester"?
"sequester" is spelled S-E-Q-U-E-S-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /sɪˈkwɛs.tə/.
What does "sequester" mean?
As a verb, "sequester" means: To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw.
How do you pronounce "sequester"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sequester" is /sɪˈkwɛs.tə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sequester"?
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 Pr... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.