patent

[pat-nt or for 10, 12–15, peyt-; especially British peyt-nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR patent ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

adjective pa·tent [peyt-nt] /ˈpeɪt nt/ (for 10, 12–15)

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

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

Related formspat·ent·a·ble, adjectivepat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, nounpat·ent·a·bly, adverbpa·tent·ly, adverbnon·pat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·pat·ent·a·ble, adjectivenon·pat·ent·ed, adjectivenon·pat·ent·ly, adverbpre·pat·ent, noun, verb (used with object)un·pat·ent, adjectiveun·pat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, nounun·pat·ent·a·ble, adjectiveun·pat·ent·ed, adjective

Synonyms for patent

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR patent ON THESAURUS.COM

10. clear, palpable, conspicuous, unconcealed.

Synonym study

10. See apparent.

Antonyms for patent

10. dim, obscure, hidden.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for patented

exclude, possess, utilize, absorb, engross, use, acquire, consume, devour, hog, patent, manage, employ, own, restrain, have, syndicate, corner, hold, copyright

Examples from the Web for patented

Contemporary Examples of patented

The polygraph, which uses a range of measurements including blood pressure, was patented by Leonarde Keeler in 1931.
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine
Tom Arnold-Forster
November 3, 2014
A man named Herbert Gilbert patented one back in 1963 that heated a nicotine solution and produced steam.
This Is Your E-Cigarette on Drugs
Daniel Genis
July 28, 2014
By some estimates, 40 percent of human genes have been patented, and every single one of those patents was at stake in this case.
The Supremes Get It Right, Naturally.
Sam Kean
June 14, 2013
Their idea, developed in the late 1940s and patented 60 years ago this fall, turned out to be ahead of its time.
RIP to the Man Behind the Ubiquitous Bar Code
David Frum
December 13, 2012
On a less crucial note, how does Jenni Ching get bloodstains out of her patented white leather jumpsuit?
Must Reads: Kennedy, Sontag and Paris, ‘A Partial History of Lost Causes,’ ‘City of Bohane,’ ‘Flatscreen’
Lauren Elkin, Mythili Rao, Drew Toal, Nicholas Mancusi
April 6, 2012

Historical Examples of patented

This last feature was a practical drawback to the system, which was patented in 1877.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro
The same principle was utilised in his type-printing telegraph, patented in 1841.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro
He had no money even to pay the fees necessary to get it patented.
The Age of Invention
Holland Thompson
This was patented in 1872, and McCormick soon made it his own.
The Age of Invention
Holland Thompson
He completed and patented his first lubricating cup in 1872.
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917
Various

British Dictionary definitions for patented

patent

noun

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

adjective

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

verb (tr)

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

Derived Formspatentable, adjectivepatentability, noun

Word Origin for patent

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 patented

patent

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.

patent

"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.

patent

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.

patented in Medicine

patent

[păt′nt]

n.

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.

adj.

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.

v.

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.