Invent
verbTo create or design something new that did not exist before.
How to spell invent
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce invent
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does invent mean?
- verbTo create or design something new that did not exist before.
- verbTo make up a story or excuse that is not true.
Invent in a sentence
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The engineers worked for years to invent a cheaper battery.
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He tried to invent an excuse for missing the meeting.
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She hoped to invent a tool that would speed up the assembly line.
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Witnesses can invent details when they feel pressured.
Where does invent come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word comes from the Latin invenire, which literally meant 'to come upon' or 'to find', built from the prefix in- meaning 'upon' or 'into' and the verb venire meaning 'to come'. In late Latin the noun inventio described the act of finding or discovering something, and in classical rhetoric it referred to the finding of arguments. English took the word in through the 1400s, at first carrying the sense of 'to discover' or 'to come across', before it narrowed to the modern meaning of devising something new that did not exist before. The same venire root still surfaces in everyday relatives such as 'venue' (a place people come to), 'convene', and 'adventure'. The spelling stays straightforward because the -vent root is stable, though writers sometimes hesitate over whether it is -ent or -ant at the end.
How the word is built
- in- (upon, into)
- vent (from venire: to come) = literally 'to come upon'
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