Where does “invent” come from?
Invent comes from Middle English inventen, from Old French inventer, from Latin inventus, past participle of invenio meaning "to find or discover," from in and a root meaning "to come."
invent (English): To design a new process or mechanism; To create...
Definitions
- To design a new process or mechanism; To create...
Ancestry of “invent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | inventen | — |
| 2 | Old French | inventer | — |
| 3 | Latin | inventus | found, having been found; discovered, having been... |
| 4 | Latin | în | — |
| 5 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
Words derived from “invent”