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patent

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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