What does sequestering mean?
Sequestering means setting something apart or removing it from ordinary use for a special purpose. The word is especially associated with legal and institutional settings, where documents, witnesses, juries, property, or funds may be kept apart from the public or placed under official control until a decision is made. It can therefore imply either protection and careful preservation or temporary confinement and exclusion. In legal usage, sequestering assets means taking possession of them to prevent their transfer, often while a dispute is being resolved. The word is more formal than simpler alternatives such as “set aside,” “isolate,” or “hold,” and its precise effect depends on context. It is useful when describing the deliberate separation of something for safety, examination, confidentiality, or legal control rather than ordinary accidental separation.
To set apart, isolate, or remove something from public access or ordinary use.
"The committee sequestered the evidence while it examined the documents."
Formal; commonly used in legal, administrative, scientific, and institutional contexts.
The act of setting something apart or placing it under special or official control.
"The sequestering of the accounts prevented further withdrawals."
A formal nominal use, especially common in legal writing.
From the Latin for “to set apart,” sequestering describes anything deliberately removed from ordinary use: a jury, a witness, or even a fortune held in legal suspense.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sequestering come from?
The underlying verb sequester comes from Latin sequestrare, meaning “to set apart” or “remove from possession.” The Latin word is associated with sequestes, meaning a trustee or person entrusted with safeguarding property. English borrowed the word in the early 16th century, and the modern forms sequestration and sequestrate developed from the same legal and Latin root.
Related word forms
How sequestering is actually used
The word is formal and especially common in legal, administrative, and institutional contexts. It can suggest protective isolation, deliberate removal from public circulation, or custody pending a decision.