sequester

[ si-kwes-ter ]

verb (used with object)

1. to remove or withdraw into solitude or retirement; seclude.
2. to remove or separate; banish; exile.
3. to keep apart from others; segregate or isolate:

   The jury was sequestered until a verdict was reached.

4. Law. to remove (property) temporarily from the possession of the owner; seize and hold, as the property and income of a debtor, until legal claims are satisfied.
5. International Law. to requisition, hold, and control (enemy property).
6. to trap (a chemical in the atmosphere or environment) and isolate it in a natural or artificial storage area:

   There are processes to sequester carbon from a power plant's exhaust gases.

   Plants can sequester toxins and store them in their tissues.

noun

1. an act or instance of sequestering; separation; isolation.
2. sequestration ( def 7 ):

   domestic programs starved for cash by the federal sequester.

sequester

/ sɪˈkwɛstə /

verb

1. to remove or separate
2. usually passive to retire into seclusion
3. law to take (property) temporarily out of the possession of its owner, esp until the claims of creditors are satisfied or a court order is complied with
4. international law to requisition or appropriate (enemy property)

Derived Forms

• seˈquestrable, adjective

Other Words From

• se·questra·ble adjective
• nonse·questered adjective
• self-se·questered adjective
• unse·questered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sequester¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English sequestren, from Latin sequestrāre “to put in hands of a trustee,” derivative of sequester “trustee, depositary”

Word History and Origins

Origin of sequester¹

C14: from Late Latin sequestrāre to surrender for safekeeping, from Latin sequester a trustee

Example Sentences

The splintered fluorine atoms, the researchers report, are safely sequestered by reacting them with potassium hydride in solution to form potassium fluoride, a nontoxic ingredient in toothpaste.

From Science Magazine

It is produced in large quantities after flu is present and lowers the severity of infection by sequestering the virus so that it can't make copies of itself, or replicate.

From Science Daily

“The root of it is still quite traditional and patriarchal in that these powerful women have to be sequestered from men and are essentially living in a convent,” Williams says.

From Los Angeles Times

They were sequestered but remain nervous about returning for the job this year.

From Los Angeles Times

"At maturity, these plants will shade the creek and keep water temperatures down, not to mention sequester carbon from the atmosphere."

From Salon

Related Words

• cloister
• close off
• insulate
• segregate