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.
The floor also highlights science at the White House, including an “extreme marshmallow cannon” brought there by a 14-year-old inventor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
The biggest fallers this year include inventor Sir James Dyson - £12bn, down £8.8bn on last year - and Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe - down from £17bn to £15.19bn.
From BBC • May 15, 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
For more than 500 years, Leonardo da Vinci has been admired as a brilliant artist, inventor, and thinker whose talents seemed far ahead of his time.
From Science Daily • May 4, 2026
Once a device had been invented, the inventor then had to find an application for it.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
