invite English · revision 6136

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1533|origins=la invītāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: verb /ɪnˈvaɪt/; noun /ˈɪn.vaɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|inviter]] or directly [[bor|la|invītāre|t=to invite; to treat, entertain]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) probably also a back-formation from [[invitation]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Latin is of uncertain origin;^(Etymonline) Barnhart and MWU analyse it as [[m|la|in-|t=toward]] and a lost adjective *vītus “pleasant”, perhaps cognate with [[sa|वीत|tr=vītá|t=loved, pleasing]] and [[grc|ἵεσθαι|tr=híesthai|t=to rush, long for]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1533, in Sir Thomas More's writings, of a thing that offers inducements to a person;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) of a person, to ask someone kindly to come to a place or event, from 1553.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Latin verb also meant to summon or challenge, and to feast or entertain.^(Etymonline) To ask someone to do something agreeable is from 1583,^(OED 1989) and to tend to bring on or lie open to, as in ''inviting criticism'', from 1599;^(OED 1989) a person unintentionally encouraging something to come is from 1650.^(OED 1989) To request something courteously is from 1854.^(OED 1989) The noun, an invitation, is from 1659 in Barnhart and MWU, the 1650s in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) and is informal;^(AHD)^(SOED 2002) Scots and south-western dialects used it too.^(Wright 1898) The SOED has an early 17th-century noun meaning an attraction or bait.^(SOED 2002) [[invitation|alt=Invitation]] is older, about 1445.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1445 – invitation.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1533 – the verb, in Thomas More.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1553 – to ask someone to come.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – to tend to bring on.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1659 – the noun, an invitation.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To ask someone politely to come somewhere or to do something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To request formally: ''to invite applications''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To tend to bring on or [[provoke]]: ''to invite trouble''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To [[tempt]] or attract.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' An [[invitation]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inviter]]

+ * [[disinvite]]

+ * [[reinvite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[invitee]]

+ * [[invitation]]

+ * [[inviting]]

+ * [[vie]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}