Patented

How to spell patented

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce patented

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does patented mean?

1. verbObtained an official, exclusive legal right to make or sell an invention.
2. adjectiveProtected by a patent, or made using a patented method or design.

Patented in a sentence

• verb

  The firm patented its folding bicycle frame before the trade show.

• adjective

  The vacuum cleaner relies on a patented cyclone system.

• verb

  Two inventors patented rival versions of the same mechanism within a month.

• adjective

  Their patented locking mechanism cannot be copied legally.

Where does patented come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word grows out of the Latin verb patere, meaning 'to lie open' or 'to be exposed'. In medieval Latin a 'litterae patentes' was an open letter, a public document issued by a monarch and left unsealed so anyone could read it, granting a right, title, or privilege to the holder. English took the phrase 'letters patent' in the 1300s through Old French, and over time 'patent' alone came to mean the official grant of an exclusive right to an invention. The verb 'to patent', meaning to secure such a grant, appeared in the 1600s, and 'patented' is simply its past tense and participle. The same patere root, the idea of lying open, also survives in words like 'patent leather' (glossy, open to the light) and the adjective 'patent' meaning obvious.

How the word is built

• pat- (from Latin patere: to lie open)
• -ent (present-participle adjective ending)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)