invent

[ in-vent ]

verb (used with object)

1. to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance:

   to invent the telegraph.

   Synonyms: contrive, devise

2. to produce or create with the imagination:

   to invent a story.

   Synonyms: conceive, imagine

3. to make up or fabricate (something fictitious or false):

   to invent excuses.

   Synonyms: concoct

4. Archaic. to come upon; find.

invent

/ ɪnˈvɛnt /

verb

1. to create or devise (new ideas, machines, etc)
2. to make up (falsehoods); fabricate

Derived Forms

• inˈventible, adjective

Other Words From

• in·venti·ble in·venta·ble adjective
• outin·vent verb (used with object)
• prein·vent verb (used with object)
• self-in·vented adjective
• unin·vented adjective
• well-in·vented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of invent¹

First recorded in 1425–75; back formation from late Middle English invented (past participle) “found, discovered,” from Latin invent(us) “encountered” (past participle of invenīre “to come upon, encounter, find,” from in- in- ² + venīre “to come”; come ) + -ed ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of invent¹

C15: from Latin invenīre to find, come upon, from in- ² + venīre to come

Synonym Study

See discover.

Example Sentences

“It was a simple idea of, ‘What if Wallace invents a smart gnome, a robot gnome, to help Gromit in the garden, and things inevitably go wrong?’

From Los Angeles Times

One such technology was invented at Penn State and is currently garnering support from the agricultural technology sector to address the problem at scale.

From Science Daily

My third-grade teacher tried a few strategies, including sending me on errands invented just to get me out of the classroom.

From Los Angeles Times

Secondly, throw into the mix a political rule first invented by The Economist magazine: “Never pick a fight with a profession that appears in a children’s book.”

From BBC

The behavior spread so far so quickly that scientists considered it unlikely that individual birds across a continent were inventing this trick on their own.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• bear
• come up with
• conceive
• design
• devise
• discover
• dream up
• envision
• fashion
• find
• forge
• formulate
• initiate
• originate
• produce