invent

English

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 (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Verb

invent (third-person singular simple present invents, present participle inventing, simple past and past participle invented)

1. 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: 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

2. 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.

3. (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

• fangle

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• discover

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.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Noun

invent m (plural invents)

1. invention

   Synonym: invenció

Related terms

• inventar

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.