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invent Definition

in·vent (in vent′)

transitive verb

  1. to think up; devise or fabricate in the mind to invent excuses
  2. to think out or produce (a new device, process, etc.); originate, as by experiment; devise for the first time
  3. Archaic to find; discover

Etymology: ME inventen < L inventus, pp. of invenire, to come upon, meet with, discover < in-, in, on + venire, to come

invent Synonyms

invent

v.

  1. To create

    originate, devise, fashion, form, project, design, develop, discover, coin, improvise, contrive, execute, carry into execution, conceive, author, plan, formulate, think up, make up, bring into being, bear, turn out, forge, make, ad-lib*, hatch*, wing it*, dream up*, cook up*; see also compose 3, create 2, discover, produce 2.

  2. To fabricate

    misrepresent, create out of thin air, simulate, fake, feign, make believe, trump up, equivocate, falsify, make up, conjure up, think up, misstate, concoct, cook up*; see also lie 1.

invent Usage Examples

Object

  • adventure: Together, they provide all the characters and props children need to invent endless adventures.
  • calculus: Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, and their dispute about who first invented the calculus.
  • genre: They invented a new genre called The Beta band.
  • barometer: Beside this I invented a barometer and a lot of novel scientific apparatus.
  • excuse: Again he paused, and I could see that he was trying to invent an excuse.
  • spelling: Many secondary-school teachers would surely agree with him that the emphasis on invented spelling has gone too far in primary schools.

Subject

    Modifying Another Word

    • practically: Practically inventing the independent record scene with their seminal self-financed EP Spiral Scratch, Buzzcocks instantly forged a unique relationship with their public.
    • newly: In these films newly invented rays stop the engines of planes in flight.
    • independently: The gamble is if someone will independently invent the same thing.
    • ever: I gave up the best pension scheme ever invented to brew beer.

    Used with why or when

    • which: The Times, p4, brief A ring has been invented which heats up to remind the wearer of impending anniversaries.
    • that: Be carefully not to discus any proprietary network information or security invents that do not directly involve your point of contact.

    Infinitive complement

    • describe: The acronym DRM was invented to describe technical systems for controlling access to and preventing copying of copyrightable files.

    Preposition: in

    • 1960s: TFD ( Thin Film Diode ) is an emitting display technology invented in the 1960s.
    • century: They are thought to have been invented in the 19th century for members of the East India Company.

    Preposition: by

    • mathematician: The soma cube puzzle was invented by mathematician Piet Hein.
    • scientist: In 1859 the lead-acid cell was invented by the French scientist, Raimond Louis Gaston Planté .
    • engineer: Please note that cell division, far from being invented by the genetic engineer, invented the genetic engineer himself.
invent Quotes

Vous e"  tes libre, choisissez, c'est-a'  -dire, inventez. Aucune morale ge¤  ne¤  rale ne peut vous indiquer ce qu'il y a a' faire. You are free, therefore chooseöthat is to say, invent. No rule of general moralitycan show you what you ought to do.

—Sartre,Jean-Paul

Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer. If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

—Voltaire pseudonym of  Fran c° ois Marie Arouet

I just invent, then wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented.

—Fuller, R(ichard) Buckminster

You must invent because you enjoy it.

—Wilson, Edmund

Wer richtig r a« sonniert, erfindet auch; und wer erfinden will, muss r a« sonnieren k o« nnen. Nur die glauben, dass sich das eine von dem anderen trennen lasse, die zu keinem von beiden aufgelegt sind. The man who can reason properly can invent; and anyone who wants to invent must be able to reason. The only people who think that the one can be separated from the other are those who have no inclination for either.

—Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim

Pour e¤  crire ce livre essentiel, le seul livre vrai, un grand e¤  crivain n'a pas, dans le sens courant, a'   l'inventer puisqu'il existe de¤ j a'   en chacun de nous, mais a'   le traduire. To write the essential book, the only true book, a great writerdoesnot needto invent becausethebook already exists inside each one of us and merely needs translation.

—Proust, Marcel