inventor
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of inventor
From Latin, dating back to 1500–10; see origin at invent, -tor
Explanation
The person who first comes up with a brand new idea or thing is its inventor. A woman named Mary Anderson, for example, is credited with being the inventor of the windshield wiper blade for cars. Lewis Latimer invented many things during his lifetime, and drafted the patent for the telephone (with fellow inventor Alexander Graham Bell). Oddly enough, Latimer's first work as an inventor was developing a restroom for train cars, in 1874. In the 1940s, actress Hedy Lamarr was the inventor of a communications technology that eventually made wireless technology, including cell phones, possible. In Latin, inventor means "contriver, author, or discoverer."
Vocabulary lists containing inventor
Business, List 1
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 25–October 5, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Her name as a possible presidential nominee was first put forward in an open letter signed by sixteen prominent Hungarians, including the inventor of the Rubik's Cube, Erno Rubik.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
According to the Farmers Weekly magazine, Kinston was a "talented amateur inventor".
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
The inventor of the Grappler, Leonard Stock, has no law enforcement background, according to reporting from Virginia-based WHSV.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
The inventor behind the world-famous robot vacuum is now designing robots that form an emotional bond with their owners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
It’s also a little up in the air whether the inventor of whatnots, Frances Miranda Gonzagaga, wanted to help the rich people or just become rich herself.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Drs. Michelle Bradbury and Ulrich Wiesner are inventors on patents related to the technology described in this study.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
"If it wasn't for Linda, we wouldn't have built this, I don't think," says Josh Behling, president of Wildfire Safety Systems and one of the inventors of the Fort.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Airship captains and Victorian inventors gather Down Under.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
Siminoff said it doesn’t hurt that Mahan speaks the same language as many tech leaders, who are mostly just “pragmatic inventors and entrepreneurs” who want California’s leader to be “principled in thinking about fixing things.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
"One of my royal inventors made these for me. Remember when you first came to my toilette ritual—on my birthday—and I handed out jewelry?"
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
