Noun

Singular invention

Plural inventions

invention (plural inventions)

1. Something invented.

   My new invention will let you alphabetize your matchbook collection in half the usual time.

   I'm afraid there was no burglar. It was all the housekeeper's invention.

2. The capacity to invent.

   It took quite a bit of invention to come up with a plan, but we did it.

3. (music) 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.

Synonyms

• discovery

Related terms

• invent
• invented
• inventive
• inventor
• reinvent

BALLS An invention is a new configuration, composition of matter, device, or process. Some inventions are based on pre-existing models or ideas. Other inventions are radical breakthroughs which may extend the boundaries of human knowledge or experience.

Inventions that become common in usage are innovations, and may be a major breakthroughs, minor in their impact, or with an effect in between these two extremes.

An invention that is novel and not obvious to those who are skilled in the same field may be able to obtain the legal protection of a patent. There is also a cultural invention which is an innovative set of useful social behaviors adopted by people and passed on to others.

Invention is a term which refers to the activity of creating new forms, compositions of matter, devices, or processes, or to the products of this activity. Some inventions are based on pre-existing forms, compositions, processes or ideas. Other inventions are radical breakthroughs which may extend the boundaries of human knowledge or experience.

Unsourced

• All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness.
  • Mark Kennedy

• Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
  • Mary Lou Cook

• Discovery consists in seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.
  • Albert Szent-Györgyi

• Electric telegraphs, printing, gas, Tobacco, balloons, and steam, Are little events that have come to pass Since the days of the old regime. And, spite of Lempriere's dazzling page, I'd give--though it might seem bold--A hundred years of the Golden Age For a year of the Age of Gold.
  • Henry S. Leigh, in The Two Ages

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Mon Jul 13 13:56:38 2009