2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Invent  \In*vent"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Invented};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Inventing}.]  [L.  inventus  p.  p.  of  invenire  to  come 
  upon  to  find  invent;  pref.  in-  in  +  venire  to  come  akin  to 
  E.  come:  cf  F.  inventer.  See  {Come}.] 
  1.  To  come  or  light  upon  to  meet  to  find  [Obs.] 
 
  And  vowed  never  to  return  again  Till  him  alive  or 
  dead  she  did  invent.  --Spenser. 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  3.  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. 
 
  Syn:  To  discover;  contrive;  devise;  frame;  design;  fabricate; 
  concoct;  elaborate.  See  {Discover}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  invented 
  adj  :  formed  or  conceived  by  the  imagination;  "a  fabricated  excuse 
  for  his  absence";  "a  fancied  wrong";  "a  fictional 
  character";  "used  fictitious  names";  "a  made-up  story" 
  [syn:  {fabricated},  {fancied},  {fictional},  {fictitious}, 
  {made-up}] 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words