invent

English

Etymology

From Middle English inventen, borrowed from Old French inventer, from Latin inventus, perfect passive participle of inveniō (“come upon, meet with, find, discover”), from in (“in, on”) + veniō (“come”); see venture. Compare advent, covent, event, prevent, etc.

Displaced native Old English āþenċan (literally “to think out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɛnt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Verb

invent (third-person singular simple present invents, present participle inventing, simple past and past participle invented)

1. To design a new process or mechanism.

   After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:

     Accurſt be he that firſt inuented war

2. To create something fictional for a particular purpose.

   Synonym: make up

   I knew I had to invent an excuse, and quickly.

   We need a name to put in this form, so let's just invent one.

3. (obsolete) To come upon; to find; to discover.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Far off he wonders, what them makes so glad, / If Bacchus merry fruit they did inuent [...].

Conjugation

Conjugation of invent

infinitive	(to) invent
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	invent	invented
2nd-person singular	invent, inventest†	invented, inventedst†
3rd-person singular	invents, inventeth†	invented
plural	invent
subjunctive	invent	invented
imperative	invent	—
participles	inventing	invented

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

• fangle

Derived terms

• not invented here
• why God invented

Related terms

• invented
• invention
• inventive
• inventor
• inventory
• reinvent

Translations

design a new process or mechanism

• Afrikaans: uitvind (af)
• Arabic: اِخْتَرَعَ (iḵtaraʕa)
• Armenian: հնարել (hy) (hnarel)
• Belarusian: вынахо́дзіць impf (vynaxódzicʹ), вы́найсці pf (výnajsci)
• Bulgarian: изобретя́вам (bg) impf (izobretjávam)
• Catalan: inventar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發明 / 发明 (zh) (fāmíng)

• Cornish: devisya
• Czech: vynalézt
• Dutch: uitvinden (nl), uitdenken (nl)
• Esperanto: inventi
• Faroese: finna upp, hugsa upp
• Finnish: keksiä (fi)
• French: inventer (fr)
• Galician: inventar (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: erfinden (de)
• Greek: εφευρίσκω (el) (efevrísko)
• Hungarian: feltalál (hu)
• Icelandic: finna upp
• Irish: cum, ceap
• Italian: inventare (it)
• Japanese: 発明する (はつめいする, hatsumei-suru)
• Khmer: បង្កើត (km) (bɑngkaət)
• Korean: 발명하다 (ko) (balmyeong-hada)
• Latin: inveniō (la), reperiō
• Macedonian: пронаоѓа (pronaoǵa), изумува (izumuva), измислува (izmisluva)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: oppfinne
• Old English: āþenċan
• Polish: wynaleźć (pl)
• Portuguese: inventar (pt)
• Romanian: scorni (ro), născoci (ro), inventa (ro)
• Russian: изобрета́ть (ru) impf (izobretátʹ), изобрести́ (ru) pf (izobrestí), создава́ть (ru) impf (sozdavátʹ), созда́ть (ru) pf (sozdátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: изумети pf, изумјети pf

  Roman: izumeti (sh) pf, izumjeti (sh) pf

• Slovak: vynájsť pf
• Slovene: izumljati impf, izumiti pf
• Spanish: inventar (es)
• Swedish: uppfinna (sv)
• Thai: คิดค้น (th) (kít-kón)
• Turkish: icat etmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: винахо́дити impf (vynaxódyty), ви́найти pf (výnajty)
• Vietnamese: phát minh (vi)
• Volapük: datuvön (vo)

create something fictional

• Azerbaijani: uydurmaq (az), quraşdırmaq (az)
• Bulgarian: измислям (bg) (izmisljam)
• Catalan: inventar (ca)
• Dutch: uitdenken (nl), uitvinden (nl), bedenken (nl), verzinnen (nl)
• Finnish: keksiä (fi)
• French: inventer (fr)
• German: ausdenken (de), erfinden (de)
• Hungarian: kitalál (hu), kigondol (hu), kiagyal (hu), kieszel (hu), kiötöl (hu)
• Irish: cum, ceap
• Italian: creare (it), ideare (it)
• Macedonian: измислува (izmisluva)
• Ngazidja Comorian: utrunga
• Old English: āþenċan
• Ottoman Turkish: دوزمك (düzmek)
• Polish: wymyślić (pl) pf, wymyślać (pl) impf
• Russian: выду́мывать (ru) impf (vydúmyvatʹ), вы́думать (ru) pf (výdumatʹ), сочиня́ть (ru) impf (sočinjátʹ), сочини́ть (ru) pf (sočinítʹ), измышля́ть (ru) impf (izmyšljátʹ), измы́слить (ru) pf (izmýslitʹ), приду́мывать (ru) impf (pridúmyvatʹ), приду́мать (ru) pf (pridúmatʹ)
• Spanish: inventar (es)
• Turkish: yaratmak (tr), uydurmak (tr) (informal, usually pejorative)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: inventer (fr)
• Malayalam: കണ്ടുപിടിയ്ക്കുക (kaṇṭupiṭiykkuka)
• Serbo-Croatian: изумети (1), измислити (1,2)
• Slovene: izumiti, iznajti
• Spanish: inventar (es)

See also

• discover

Further reading

• “invent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “invent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [imˈben]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [iɱˈvent]

Noun

invent m (plural invents)

1. invention

   Synonym: invenció

Related terms

• inventar

Further reading

• “invent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “invent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “invent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “invent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.