Definition of invention

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in·ven·tion    (n-vnshn) KEY 

NOUN:

1. The act or process of inventing: used a technique of her own invention.
2. A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation: the phonograph, an invention attributed to Thomas Edison.
3. A mental fabrication, especially a falsehood.
4. Skill in inventing; inventiveness: "the invention and sweep of the staging" (John Simon).
5. Music A short composition developing a single theme contrapuntally.
6. A discovery; a finding.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English invencioun, scheme, plan, from Old French invencion, a finding out, from Latin inventi, inventin-, inventiveness, from inventus, past participle of invenre, to find ; see invent

OTHER FORMS:
in·vention·al(Adjective)