*invent*

n. One who invents. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of invention. J. Gifford. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being invented. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being inventible. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. inventio: cf. F. invention. See Invent. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of finding out or inventing; contrivance or construction of that which has not before existed; as, the invention of logarithms; the invention of the art of printing. [ 1913 Webster ]

As the search of it [ truth ] is the duty, so the invention will be the happiness of man. Tatham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is invented; an original contrivance or construction; a device; as, this fable was the invention of Esop; that falsehood was her own invention; she patented five inventions. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

We entered by the drawbridge, which has an invention to let one fall if not premonished. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Thought; idea. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A fabrication to deceive; a fiction; a forgery; a falsehood. [ 1913 Webster ]

Filling their hearers
With strange invention. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The faculty of inventing; imaginative faculty; skill or ingenuity in contriving anything new; as, a man of invention. [ 1913 Webster ]

They lay no less than a want of invention to his charge; a capital crime, . . . for a poet is a maker. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Fine Arts, Rhet., etc.) The exercise of the imagination in selecting and treating a theme, or more commonly in contriving the arrangement of a piece, or the method of presenting its parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Invention of the cross (Eccl.), a festival celebrated May 3d, in honor of the finding of our Savior's cross by St. Helena. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Inventive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. inventif. ] Able and apt to invent; quick at contrivance; ready at expedients; as, an inventive head or genius. Dryden. -- In*vent"ive*ly, adv. -- In*vent"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. inventeur. ] One who invents or finds out something new; a contriver; especially, one who invents mechanical devices, new drugs, new processes, or other useful objects or procedures. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to an inventory. -- In`ven*to"ri*al*ly, adv. Shak. [1913 Webster]

n.; pl. Inventories [ L. inventarium: cf. LL. inventorium, F. inventaire, OF. also inventoire. See Invent. ] 1. An account, catalogue, or schedule, made by an executor or administrator, of all the goods and chattels, and sometimes of the real estate, of a deceased person; a list of the property of which a person or estate is found to be possessed; hence, an itemized list of goods or valuables, with their estimated worth. Hence: Any listing, as in a catalogue, of objects or resources on hand and available for use or for sale. Specifically, the annual account listing the stock on hand, taken in any business. [ 1913 Webster ]

There take an inventory of all I have. Shak.

2. The objects contained on an inventory{ 1 }; especially: the stock of items on hand in any business, either for sale and not yet sold, or kept as raw materials to be converted into finished products. [ PJC ]

3. The total value of all goods in an inventory{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

4. The act of making an inventory{ 1 }. [ PJC ]

Syn. -- List; register; schedule; catalogue. See List. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Inventoried p. pr. & vb. n. Inventorying. ] [ Cf. F. inventorier. ] To make an inventory of; to make a list, catalogue, or schedule of; to insert or register in an account of goods; as, a merchant inventories his stock. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will give out divers schedules of my beauty; it shall be inventoried, and every particle and utensil labeled. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the act or process of making an inventory; making an itemized list of merchandise or supplies on hand.
Syn. -- inventory, stocktaking. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. L. inventrix, F. inventrice. ] A woman who invents. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L., he is not found. ] (Law) The return of a sheriff on a writ, when the defendant is not found in his county. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]