invent
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Middle English inventen, borrowed from Old French inventer, from Latin inventus, perfect passive participle of inveniō (“come upon, meet with, find, discover”), from in (“in, on”) + veniō (“come”); see venture. Compare advent, covent, event, prevent, etc.
Displaced native Old English āþenċan (literally “to think out”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɛnt/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛnt
Verb
invent (third-person singular simple present invents, present participle inventing, simple past and past participle invented)
- To design a new process or mechanism.
- After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:
- Accurſt be he that firſt inuented war
- To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
- Synonym: make up
- I knew I had to invent an excuse, and quickly.
- We need a name to put in this form, so let's just invent one.
- (obsolete) To come upon; to find; to discover.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Far off he wonders, what them makes so glad, / If Bacchus merry fruit they did inuent [...].
Conjugation
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
design a new process or mechanism
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create something fictional
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Further reading
- “invent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “invent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Pronunciation
Noun
invent m (plural invents)
Related terms
Further reading
- “invent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “invent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “invent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “invent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
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