# invention

Pronunciation: say "in-VEN-shuhn" /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/

## Noun

1. A new device, process, or idea that someone has created and that did not exist before.
   - Simple: A new object or idea that someone has made for the first time.
   - _The printing press was an invention that transformed how knowledge spread._
   - _Many household inventions began as solutions to everyday frustrations._
2. The act or process of devising and creating something that did not previously exist.
   - Simple: The act of making something new for the first time.
   - _The invention of the printing press revolutionized communication._
   - _Necessity often drives the invention of clever solutions._
3. The mental power to come up with original ideas and create new things.
   - Simple: The ability to think up new ideas and make new things.
   - _Her novels are praised for their wit and invention._
   - _The project demanded real invention from the whole team._
4. A short, self-contained musical composition, especially one of J.S. Bach's two- and three-part keyboard pieces.
   - Simple: A short piece of music that stands on its own, like the famous ones by Bach.
   - _The pianist opened the recital with a delicate two-part invention._
   - _Each invention explores a single musical idea from start to finish._

## Noun

5. The act of finding something out or discovering it; a discovery. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The act of finding or discovering something.
   - _The feast commemorates the invention of the holy relic beneath the church._
   - _His diaries describe the invention of a freshwater spring deep in the forest._

## Origin

The word came through Middle English invencion, from Latin inventiō, either directly or by way of Middle French invencion. It goes back to Latin invenīre ("to discover, find, invent"), formed from in- ("in, into") plus venīre ("to come"). It replaced the native Old English word orþanc.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/invention (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).