Invention

Invention
Invention In*ven"tion, n. [L. inventio: cf. F. invention. See {Invent}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of finding out or inventing; contrivance or construction of that which has not before existed; as, the invention of logarithms; the invention of the art of printing. [1913 Webster]

As the search of it [truth] is the duty, so the invention will be the happiness of man. --Tatham. [1913 Webster]

2. That which is invented; an original contrivance or construction; a device; as, this fable was the invention of Esop; that falsehood was her own invention; she patented five inventions. [1913 Webster +PJC]

We entered by the drawbridge, which has an invention to let one fall if not premonished. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]

3. Thought; idea. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. A fabrication to deceive; a fiction; a forgery; a falsehood. [1913 Webster]

Filling their hearers With strange invention. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. The faculty of inventing; imaginative faculty; skill or ingenuity in contriving anything new; as, a man of invention. [1913 Webster]

They lay no less than a want of invention to his charge; a capital crime, . . . for a poet is a maker. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

6. (Fine Arts, Rhet., etc.) The exercise of the imagination in selecting and treating a theme, or more commonly in contriving the arrangement of a piece, or the method of presenting its parts. [1913 Webster]

{Invention of the cross} (Eccl.), a festival celebrated May 3d, in honor of the finding of our Savior's cross by St. Helena. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • INVENTION — L’invention est l’acte de produire par ses propres moyens un élément, un objet ou un processus original; plus généralement, de produire ou de créer en utilisant son imagination: inventer une machine, inventer une histoire. Le terme a aussi un… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • invention — Invention. s. f. v. Qualité, faculté, disposition de l esprit à inventer. Ce Poëte n a point d invention. il a l invention belle, heureuse. cet artisan est homme d invention, est plein d invention. Il se prend aussi pour l action d inventer, &… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • invention — in‧ven‧tion [ɪnˈvenʆn] noun 1. [countable] a new product that was not available before: • Do you realise that the paint roller is a Canadian invention? • There were displays of new inventions in the exhibition halls. 2. [uncountable] when… …   Financial and business terms

  • invention — in·ven·tion n: a device, process, or discovery under U.S. patent law that is new and useful, that reflects extraordinary creative ability or skill, and that makes a distinct and recognized contribution to and advancement of science; also: the act …   Law dictionary

  • invention — Invention, Constitutio, Machinatio, Inuentio, Inuentus, huius inuentus, Excogitatio. Invention ou allegation qu on fait par malice plus que par bonne foy, Calumnia. Inventions et tromperies pour venir à la fin de ses attaintes, Machinae. C est… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • invention — (n.) c.1400, devised method of organization, from O.Fr. invencion (13c.) and directly from L. inventionem (nom. inventio) faculty of invention; a finding, discovery, noun of action from pp. stem of invenire devise, discover, find, from in in, on… …   Etymology dictionary

  • invention — [n1] creation, creativeness apparatus, black box*, brainchild*, coinage, concoction, contraption, contrivance, creativity, design, development, device, discovery, doodad*, gadget, genius, gimmick, gizmo*, imagination, ingenuity, innovation,… …   New thesaurus

  • Invention — (v. lat.), 1) das Finden, Auffinden; so Inventio sanctae crucis, Kreuzerfindung; 2) Erfindung; 3) Kunstgriff. Daher Inventiös, erfinderisch …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Invention — (lat., franz.), Erfindung, Kunstgriff; bei Seb. Bach Bezeichnung für kleine, zwei und dreistimmige Klavierstücke im imitatorischen Stil; inventiös, erfinderisch, sinnreich …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Invention — (lat.), Erfindung; kurze Instrumentalsätze. Inventiös, erfinderisch, erfindungsreich, sinnreich …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

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