What does "invent" mean?
Invent: To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to contrive or produce for the first time; -- applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine. Thus first Necessity invented stools. Cowper.
Additional senses
- 2.To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; -- in a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent a falsehood. Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. Milton. He had invented some circumstances, and put the worst possible construction on others. Sir W. Scott. See Discover.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00