Etymologically
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invent

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈvɛnt/[1]

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

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