invention
//ɪnˈvɛnʃən//
Forms
- Plural
- inventions
Definitions
1.Something invented.
- I’m afraid there was no burglar. It was all the housekeeper’s invention.
- My new invention will let you alphabetize your matchbook collection in half the usual time.
- Warren Sheffield is telephoning Rose long distance at half past six. […] Personally, I wouldn't marry a man who proposed to me over an invention.
2.The act of inventing.
- The invention of the printing press was probably the most significant innovation of the medieval ages.
3.The capacity to invent.
- It took quite a bit of invention to come up with a plan, but we did it.
4.A small, self-contained composition, particularly those in J.S. Bach’s Two- and Three-part Inventions.
- I particularly like the inventions in C-minor.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4794
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English invencion, invencioun, from Latin inventiō either directly or via Middle French invencion, from Latin invenīre (“to discover, find, invent”), from in- (“in-: in, into”) + venīre (“to come”). Doublet of inventio. By surface analysis, invent + -ion.