patent
[pat-nt or for 10, 12–15, peyt-; especially British peyt-nt]
- the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.
- an invention or process protected by this right.
- an official document conferring such a right; letters patent.
- the instrument by which the government of the United States conveys the legal fee-simple title to public land.
- patent leather.
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- protected by a patent; patented: a patent cooling device.
- pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, especially on inventions: a patent attorney; patent law.
- conferred by a patent, as a right or privilege.
- holding a patent, as a person.
- readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious: a patent breach of good manners.
- made of patent leather: patent shoes.
- lying open; not enclosed or shut in: a patent field.
- Chiefly Botany. expanded or spreading.
- open, as a doorway or a passage.
- Phonetics. open, in various degrees, to the passage of the breath stream.
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- to take out a patent on; obtain the exclusive rights to (an invention, process, etc.) by a patent.
- to originate and establish as one's own.
- Metallurgy. to heat and quench (wire) so as to prepare for cold-drawing.
- to grant (public land) by a patent.
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Origin of patent
1250–1300; (adj.) Middle English < Latin patent- (stem of patēns) open, orig. present participle of patēre to stand wide open; (noun) Middle English, short for letters patent, translation of Medieval Latin litterae patentēs open letters
Synonyms
See more synonyms for patent on Thesaurus.com10. clear, palpable, conspicuous, unconcealed.
Synonym study
10. See apparent.
Antonyms
10. dim, obscure, hidden.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for patent
Contemporary Examples
Having received a patent on the technology in 1986, Hull founded 3D Systems to commercialize his discoveries.
Language from the patent mandates that the technology be used with “hearing device, headphones, ear buds, or headsets.”
The accessories embodied the urban, street persona of the ‘new’ Marc by Marc Jacobs: black belts (or obis) and patent high tops.
Marc by Marc Jacobs Gets Its Cool Back at Fall/Winter 2014 New York Fashion WeekErin Cunningham
February 12, 2014
The day ends in Iowa, of all places, with a one-sentence entry: “Christian K. Nelson took out a patent on the Eskimo Pie.”
Models wore black knee-socks with patent leather Mary Janes and thick neckties.
Historical Examples
It is a patent declaration: "This is only a play; laugh and we are content."
The Dramatic Values in PlautusWilton Wallace Blancke
The turners, Fig. 4, in the germinating cases are Saladin's patent.
But the unreasonableness of such a suspicion was patent, and Mr Verloc held his tongue.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
The American patent was obtained by Morse on October 3, 1837.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
In return Vail was to receive one-fourth of the patent rights in that country.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
patent
- a government grant to an inventor assuring him the sole right to make, use, and sell his invention for a limited period
- a document conveying such a grant
- an invention, privilege, etc, protected by a patent
- an official document granting a right
- any right granted by such a document
- (in the US)
- a grant by the government of title to public lands
- the instrument by which such title is granted
- the land so granted
- a sign that one possesses a certain quality
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- open or available for inspection (esp in the phrases letters patent, patent writ)
- (ˈpeɪtənt) obvioustheir scorn was patent to everyone
- concerning protection, appointment, etc, of or by a patent or patents
- proprietary
- (esp of a bodily passage or duct) being open or unobstructed
- biology spreading out widelypatent branches
- (of plate glass) ground and polished on both sides
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- to obtain a patent for
- (in the US) to grant (public land or mineral rights) by a patent
- metallurgy to heat (a metal) above a transformation temperature and cool it at a rate that allows cold working
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Word Origin
C14: via Old French from Latin patēre to lie open; n use, short for letters patent, from Medieval Latin litterae patentes letters lying open (to public inspection)
usage
The pronunciation (ˈpætənt) is heard in letters patent and Patent Office and is the usual US pronunciation for all senses. In Britain (ˈpætənt) is sometimes heard for senses 1, 2 and 3, but (ˈpeɪtənt) is commoner and is regularly used in collocations like patent leather
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for patent
n.
late 14c., "open letter or document from some authority," shortened form of Anglo-French lettre patent (also in Medieval Latin (litteræ) patentes), literally "open letter" (late 13c.), from Old French patente (see patent (adj.).
The Letters Patent were ... written upon open sheets of parchment, with the Great Seal pendent at the bottom ... [while] the 'Litteræ Clausæ,' or Letters Close, ... being of a more private nature, and addressed to one or two individuals only, were closed or folded up and sealed on the outside. [S.R. Scargill-Bird, "A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents at the Public Record Office," 1891]
Meaning "a license covering an invention" is from 1580s.
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v.
"to obtain right to land," 1670s, from patent (n.). The meaning "copyright an invention" is first recorded 1822, from earlier meaning "obtain exclusive right or monopoly" (1789), a privilege granted by the Crown via letters patent. Related: Patented; patenting.
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adj.
late 14c., in letters patent, literally "open letter," from Old French patente, from Latin patentum (nominative patens) "open, lying open," present participle of patere "lie open, be open," from PIE *pete- "to spread" (see pace (n.)). Sense of "open to view, plain, clear" is first recorded c.1500. Related: Patently.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
patent
(păt′nt)- A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.
- An invention protected by such a grant.
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- Of, relating to, or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is often protected by a trademark.
- Not blocked; open.
- Spreading open; expanded.
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- To obtain a patent on or for something, such as an invention.
- To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of an idea.
- To grant a patent to someone or for something.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.