invention

American  

[in-ven-shuhn] / ɪnˈvɛn ʃən /

noun

1. the act of inventing.

2. U.S. Patent Law. a new, useful process, machine, improvement, etc., that did not exist previously and that is recognized as the product of some unique intuition or genius, as distinguished from ordinary mechanical skill or craftsmanship.

3. anything invented or devised.

4. the power or faculty of inventing, devising, or originating.

5. an act or instance of creating or producing by exercise of the imagination, especially in art, music, etc.

6. something fabricated, as a false statement.

7. Sociology. the creation of a new culture trait, pattern, etc.

8. Music. a short piece, contrapuntal in nature, generally based on one subject.

9. Rhetoric. (traditionally) one of the five steps in speech preparation, the process of choosing ideas appropriate to the subject, audience, and occasion.

10. Archaic. the act of finding.

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invention British  

/ ɪnˈvɛnʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of inventing

2. something that is invented

3. patent law the discovery or production of some new or improved process or machine that is both useful and is not obvious to persons skilled in the particular field

4. creative power or ability; inventive skill

5. euphemistic a fabrication; lie

6. (in traditional rhetoric) one of the five steps in preparing a speech or discourse: the process of finding suitable topics on which to talk or write

7. music a short piece consisting of two or three parts usually in imitative counterpoint

8. sociol the creation of a new cultural pattern or trait

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Other Word Forms

• inventional adjective
• inventionless adjective
• preinvention noun
• self-invention noun

Etymology

Origin of invention

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English invencio(u)n, from Latin inventiōn-, stem of inventiō “discovery, finding out”; equivalent to invent + -ion

Explanation

If you create a new device or process, it's called an invention. Many futuristic inventions from science fiction have come true, though no one has successfully invented a time machine. The act of inventing something is also referred to as invention. Your invention of an amazing new cookie might make you the hit of the bake sale. Something imagined or created in your mind can also be called an invention. The story of what happened to your homework may have been a complete invention, but it was probably entertaining for your teacher — especially the part about the alien abduction.

Example Sentences

Things changed when Woods sold his combined telephone-and-telegraph invention to Alexander Graham Bell’s company.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Ask any historian—or child, for that matter—to name the “father of the telephone,” and most will say Alexander Graham Bell, who patented his revolutionary invention in 1876.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Of course, having to rely on an invention rather than Mother Nature isn’t really what anyone wants.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2026

Wilson believes that Snow Secure—the high-tech insulated polystyrene blanket that unfolds like an accordion, then drapes over a pile of snow—is just the invention.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2026

Several decades later, borrowing from this technology, Henry Ford credited the meatpackers for the idea that led to the invention of the automobile assembly line.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield