English Dictionary
Definition of “invent”
invent (ɪnˈvɛnt
)
Definitions
verb
- to create or devise (new ideas, machines, etc)
- to make up (falsehoods); fabricate
Alternative Forms
inˈventible inˈventable adjective Word Origin
C15: from Latin invenīre to find, come upon, from in-² + venīre to come
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
create,
make,
produce,
develop,
design,
discover,
imagine,
manufacture,
generate,
come up with,
coin,
devise,
conceive,
originate,
formulate,
spawn,
contrive,
improvise,
dream up,
concoct,
think up,
=
make up,
devise,
concoct,
forge,
fake,
fabricate,
feign,
falsify,
cook up,
trump up,
Translations
- British English:
invent
If you invent something, you are the first person to think of it or make it.He invented the first electric clock.ɪnˈvɛnt VERB He invented the first electric clock.
- Spanish:
inventar
v
- French:
inventer
vt
- German:
erfinden
v
- Chinese: 发明 v
- Arabic: يَخْتَرِعُ vt
- Portuguese: inventar v
- Russian: изобретать v
- Croatian: izumiti v
- Czech: vynalézt v vynalézat
- Danish: opfinde v
- Dutch: uitvinden v
- Finnish: keksiä v
- Greek: εφευρίσκω v
- Italian: inventare v
- Japanese: 発明する v
- Korean: 발명하다 v
- Norwegian: finne opp v
- Polish: wynaleźć v wynajdować
- Brazilian Portuguese: inventar v
- European Spanish:
inventar
v
- Swedish: uppfinna v
- Thai: ประดิษฐ์ v
- Turkish: icat etmek v
- Vietnamese: phát minh v
Usage examples
There were few excuses for what she had done but she knew better than to invent any.
Pacter, Trudi, Yellow Bird (1993)Listen up, because once you know what girls want, you can, well, invent new, improved ways to screw up.
Maxim (2004)They had to invent addresses to register users of the different utilities.
Globe and Mail (2003)CRICKET'S top techno wizard insists he could invent a device to check for no-balls.
Sun, News of the World (2001)Try different ones each day; change, experiment and invent.
O'Keeffe, John, Your One Week Way to Mind-Fitness (1994)
