patent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpætənt/, /ˈpeɪtənt/; /ˈpeɪtənt/, /ˈpætənt/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

The noun is short for “letters patent”, borrowed from Anglo-Norman lettre patente (“open letter”), Medieval Latin litterae patentes,^[2][3][4] from patent (“open”), from Latin patens (“lying open”), the present participle of patēre (“to lie open”),^[3][5][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *pete- (“to spread”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, in letters patent: 1292 in the OED.^[6] The noun, a papal indulgence, is from before 1376, in Piers Plowman, and a document granting a right or title about 1387–95, in Chaucer.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Letters patent were written on open sheets with the Great Seal hanging at the bottom, unlike the more private letters close, which were folded and sealed.^[3] A licence giving the exclusive right to exploit a new invention is from the 1580s,^[3] and of an invention, protected by patent, from 1824.^[6] The adjective open, evident is from the mid-15th century (patently),^[3] and open as a door or passage from 1563.^[6] The verb, to obtain land by letters patent, is from the 1670s, and to obtain an exclusive right to an invention by 1822.^[3] Patent leather, with a glossy finish, follows from the trade sense.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1292 – letters patent.^[6]
• before 1376 – a papal indulgence.^[2]
• mid-15th century – evident.^[3]
• 1580s – a patent for an invention.^[3]
• 1670s – the verb.^[3]
• 1824 – patented (of an invention).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A government licence giving someone the sole right to make, use or sell an invention for a set period.
2. An invention protected in this way.

Adjective

1. Obvious; plain: a patent lie.
2. Protected by a patent.
3. (medicine) Open or unobstructed.

Verb

1. To obtain a patent for.

Word family

• patentability
• patentable
• patently
• patentably
• unpatent
• patentee
• patentor
• prepatent

Related words

• patency
• fathom
• petal

Usage notes

According to the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, British English uses /ˈpæt.ənt/ in “letters patent” and usually for the noun meaning legal protection of inventions, but /ˈpeɪ.tənt/ is otherwise more usual.^[9] American English usually says /ˈpæt.ənt/, except for the sense “obvious”, where /ˈpeɪ.tənt/ is normal.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press