# sequester

> English word · Verb · IPA /sɪˈkwɛs.tə/ · frequency rank #50,797

## Definitions
1. To separate from all external influence; to seclude; to withdraw.
2. To separate in order to store.
3. To set apart; to put aside; to remove; to separate from other things.
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.
7. To remove (certain funds) automatically from a budget.
8. To seize and hold enemy property.
9. To withdraw; to retire.
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”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sequester