inventor
Americannoun
-
inventors
plural
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:
It’s not just the investor; it’s the inventor.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Bayne is an inventor, with patent-pending applications for artificial intelligence tools that automate legal workflows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Now retired, Seiler previously worked in real estate and banking and also spent time as an inventor.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
The inventor of the switch hit, and the most ardent supporter of the IPL before it became mainstream.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I told him, “Richard Buckminster Fuller was a scientist, philosopher, and inventor who is most famous for designing the geodesic dome, whose most famous version is the Buckyball. He died in 1983, I think.”
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
The same pattern appears in biomedical innovation: Female inventors are disproportionately likely to produce inventions related to women’s health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Both countries lay claim to being the inventors of the sport and in the early days the fixture was dominated by the Scots, who popularised the passing game.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Longo and Maura Fanti are also inventors on a U.S. provisional patent application covering aspects of the methods and findings described in the study.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
Airship captains and Victorian inventors gather Down Under.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
“Oh yeah, and inventors of the life raft, the bullet proof vest, and residential solar heating? Women,” I say.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
