invent
verb/ɪnˈvɛnt/
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”).
1
To design a new process or mechanism.
- After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.
- Accurſt be he that firſt inuented warc. 1587–1588 (date written), [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:
2
To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
- 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.
- Far off he wonders, what them makes so glad, / If Bacchus merry fruit they did inuent [...].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- fangle
- Derived terms
- coinvent, disinvent, innovent, inventable, inventful, inventible, not invented here, outinvent, uninvent, why God invented