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)
- 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
Conjugation of invent
| infinitive | (to) invent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | invent | invented | |
| 2nd-person singular | invent, inventest† | invented, inventedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | invents, inventeth† | invented | |
| plural | invent | ||
| subjunctive | invent | invented | |
| imperative | invent | — | |
| participles | inventing | invented | |
†Archaic or obsolete.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
design a new process or mechanism
|
create something fictional
|
- 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.
Catalan
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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