invent: [15] Invent originally meant ‘find’ (‘Since that Eve was procreated out of Adam’s side, could not such newels [novelties] in this land be invented’, wrote the anonymous author of a 15th-century song). It was based on invent-, the past participial stem of Latin invenīre ‘come upon, find’, a compound verb formed from the prefix in- ‘on’ and venīre ‘come’.
The sense ‘devise’, which developed via ‘discover’, actually existed in the Latin verb, but English did not take it on board until the 16th century. The derivative inventory [16] was borrowed from medieval Latin inventōrium ‘list’, an alteration of late Latin inventārium, which originally meant a ‘finding out’, hence an ‘enumeration’. => adventure, inventory
invent (v.)
late 15c., "find, discover," a back-formation from invention or else from Latin inventus, past participle of invenire âto come upon; devise, discoverâ (see invention). Meaning "make up, think up" is from 1530s, as is that of "produce by original thought." Related: Invented; inventing.
双语例句
1. His father had helped invent a whole new way of doing business.
他父亲帮助创造了一套全新的生意经。
来自柯林斯例句
2. We have to invent a new method for sneaking prisoners out without being noticed by the guards.
我们必须想出新的办法使囚犯们偷偷溜出去而不被看守发现.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. I stood still, trying to invent a plausible excuse.
我站着不动，试图编个说得过去的借口。
来自辞典例句
4. Soon designers began to invent new idioms expressly for the toolbar.
不久,设计者开始为工具栏发明新的习惯用法.
来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
5. He can always invent a new game to divert the children.
