invent
Americanverb (used with object)
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to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance.
to invent the telegraph.
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to produce or create with the imagination.
to invent a story.
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to make up or fabricate (something fictitious or false).
to invent excuses.
- Synonyms:
- concoct
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Archaic. to come upon; find.
verb
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to create or devise (new ideas, machines, etc)
-
to make up (falsehoods); fabricate
Related Words
See discover.
Other Word Forms
- inventable adjective
- inventible adjective
- outinvent verb (used with object)
- preinvent verb (used with object)
- self-invented adjective
- uninvented adjective
- well-invented adjective
Etymology
Origin of invent
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
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.
In 1822, F. & R. Lockwood, a small cartography firm in New York, published what historians today believe was the first of its kind: a board game invented and marketed in America.
"To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters and worlds that people love."
From Barron's
The first new sport added to the Winter Olympics since snowboarding in 1998, skimo is rooted in the 19th Century, before lifts to take skiers up mountains had been invented.
From BBC
Rebecca Black’s “Friday” didn’t invent being nasty online.
From Salon
To help his 3-year-old son with a medical challenge, he invented a product that makes it easier to travel with temperature-sensitive medication.
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.
