invent

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inventus (“found”), the past participle of inveniō (“to come upon, find, devise”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from in- (“on, upon”) and veniō (“to come”),^[7][8][6] from Proto-Indo-European *gʷā-.^[7] Barnhart and Etymonline think it may be a back-formation from invention,^[9][2] and Dictionary.com derives it from the late Middle English past participle invented (“found”).^[10] Compare French inventer, from 1539.^[6][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come upon, find or discover: about 1475, in a song printed in the Percy Society's Songs & Carols.^[6][9][8]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the sense "devise", which grew out of "discover", already existed in Latin, but English took it on only in the 16th century.^[8] To make up something false is recorded from the Coverdale Bible of 1535,^[6][9] and to create something new by original thought from before 1538.^[6][9][2] Other 16th-century senses, to plan or plot (1539–1820) and to found or institute (1546–1692), died out,^[6] and the first sense, "find", survives only in the church feast of the Invention of the Cross.^[6][12] Weekley points out that the original meaning also survives in inventory, a list of goods found in a person's possession.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1475 – to come upon, find (obsolete).^[6][9]
• 1535 – to make up something false.^[6][9]
• before 1538 – to create by original thought.^[6][9]
• 1539 – to devise, plan or plot (obsolete by 1820).^[6]
• 1546 – to found or institute (obsolete by 1692).^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To create or design something new, such as a machine or method, by original thought: She invented a new kind of lock.^[14][3][6]
2. To make up a story or excuse; to fabricate: He invented an excuse for being late.^[14][3][6]
3. (obsolete) To come upon or discover.^[6][3][4]

Word family

• inventible
• inventor
• inventress
• disinvent
• outinvent

Related words

• inventive
• invention
• inventory
• reinvent
• venture
• come

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins