INDEX:
1. to think of a new idea, design, or name for something
2. someone who invents something
3. something that someone has invented
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ IDEA
↑ NEW
↑ DESIGN
↑ MAKE
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1. to think of a new idea, design, or name for something
▷ invent /ɪnˈvent/ [transitive verb]
to think of an idea for a new product, machine etc for the first time, and design it and make it :
▪ Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
▪ Television was invented in the 1920s.
▪ Theremin invented the weird electronic instrument that provided soundtracks to 1950s science-fiction movies.
invention [uncountable noun]
when someone has invented a new product :
invent of
▪ This discovery was to lead to the invention of the nuclear bomb.
▷ create /kriˈeɪt/ [transitive verb]
to make something new in art, literature, fashion etc :
▪ Agatha Christie created the character Hercule Poirot.
▪ Mary Quant created a whole new look for women’s clothes in the 1960s.
▷ come up with/think up /ˌkʌm ˈʌp wɪð, ˌθɪŋk ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb] informal
to produce a new idea, name, method etc by thinking carefully about it :
think up/come up with something
▪ See if you can come up with a better name for it.
▪ We need to think up some new ideas for the Christmas show.
think something up
▪ We don’t just think this stuff up. It’s the way good lawyers always operate.
▷ devise /dɪˈvaɪz/ [transitive verb]
to invent a way of doing something, especially one that is clever and complicated :
▪ The exercise programme was devised by a leading health expert.
▪ Scientists have devised a test that shows who is most likely to get the disease.
▷ make up /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to invent something such as a story or song, usually without writing it down :
make up something
▪ For Halloween, the children made up stories about wolves and witches.
▪ When my mother was in a good mood, she would make up songs about us.
make something up
▪ That’s a good riddle. Did you make it up yourself?
▷ conceive /kənˈsiːv/ [intransitive/transitive verb] formal
to think of a new idea, plan, or piece of work and develop it in your mind, until it is ready to be used, made etc :
▪ ‘We wanted to make something new and original,’ said Colin Smith, the man who conceived the show.
▪ The painting is beautifully conceived in every way -- composition, colour and texture.
conceive of
▪ The young Edvard Munch conceived of a radically new approach to his art.
▷ dream up /ˌdriːm ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to think of a plan, idea, method etc, especially one that other people think is strange or unlikely to succeed :
dream up something
▪ Banks seem to spend a lot of time dreaming up ways to get more money from their customers.
▪ The machine looked like it had been dreamed up by a surrealist painter.
dream something up
▪ ‘It’s too complicated for me,’ Polly whispered; ‘how do they dream these things up?’
▷ coin /kɔɪn/ [transitive verb]
to invent a word or phrase :
▪ The term ‘black hole’ was coined in 1969 by the American scientist John Wheeler.
▪ A Polish refugee coined the term ‘genocide’ to describe attempts to kill an entire group of people.
coinage /ˈkɔɪnɪdʒ/ [countable noun]
▪ The word ‘yuppie’ is a coinage of the 1960s which found a new fame in the 1980s.
2. someone who invents something
▷ inventor /ɪnˈventəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who has invented something, or whose job is to invent things, especially machines :
▪ Franklin was a scientist, an inventor, and a statesman.
▪ Marconi was the inventor of radio.
▪ The patent lists six inventors who worked on the system.
▷ creator /kriˈeɪtəʳ/ [countable noun]
the writer, artist, or designer who first produced a well-known story, character, fashion etc :
creator of
▪ Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse
▪ Diaghilev is considered by many to be the creator of the first modern dance company.
▷ originator /əˈrɪdʒɪneɪtəʳ, əˈrɪdʒəneɪtəʳ/ [noun phrase]
the person who first invented something, especially an idea :
originator of
▪ Stokely Carmichael was probably the originator of the term ‘black power.’
▪ Alberti was the originator of the violin’s design even though Stradivari made it famous.
▷ the father of something /ðə ˈfɑːðər əv something/ [noun phrase]
the man who first invented a new way of thinking or a new area of study, or who first tried new methods, practices etc :
▪ Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was born in 1856.
▪ Lowe was the real father of modern computing and a very important figure in IBM’s ranks.
3. something that someone has invented
▷ invention /ɪnˈvenʃ ə n/ [countable noun]
▪ The Hydro-Ram is an invention which makes it easier for firemen to get people out of crashed cars.
▪ The wedge is an important early mechanical invention.
▪ More than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness.
▷ creation /kriˈeɪʃ ə n/ [countable noun]
something such as a completely new fashion, a character in a book etc, that someone has invented using their imagination :
▪ Agatha Christie’s greatest fictional creation was the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.
▪ Chef Michael Almay’s creations will make you want to come back again and again.
▷ innovation /ˌɪnəˈveɪʃ ə n/ [countable noun]
something new that is being used for the first time, or a new way of doing something :
▪ In those days, the automobile was a recent innovation.
▪ Electric lighting was still considered a daring innovation when it was installed in my grandfather’s house.
innovation in
▪ Innovations in information technology have completely transformed the way students work.
▷ brainchild /ˈbreɪntʃaɪld/ [singular noun]
something that a particular person invented, especially something such as an idea, method, or system :
brainchild of
▪ The new computer system is the brainchild of our systems manager.
▪ A new game, the brainchild of Andrew Wilson, was launched in 1999.