Emily Dickinson Lexicon

IN-VENT', v.t. [Fr. inventer; Sp. inventar; It. inventare; L. invenio, inventum; in and venio, to come; literally, to come to, to fall on, to meet, Eng. to find.]

1. To find out something new; to devise something not before known; to contrive and produce something that did not before exist; as, to invent a new instrument of music; to invent a machine for spinning; to invent gunpowder. [See Invention.]
2. To forge; to fabricate; to contrive falsely; as, to invent falsehoods.
3. To feign; to frame by the imagination; as, to invent the machinery of a poem.
4. To light on; to meet with. [This is the literal sense, but not now used.] Spenser.

IN-VENT'ED, pp.

Found out; devised; contrived; forged; fabricated.

IN-VENT'FUL, a.

Full of invention. Gifford.

IN-VENT'I-BLE, a.

That can be invented.

IN-VENT'I-BLE-NESS, n.

The state of being inventible.

IN-VEN'TION, n. [Fr. from L. inventio.]

1. The action or operation of finding out something new; the contrivance of that which did not before exist; as, the invention of logarithms; the invention of the art of printing; the invention of the orrery. Invention differs from discovery. Invention is applied to the contrivance and production of something that did not before exist. Discovery brings to light that which existed before, but which was not known. We are indebted to invention for the thermometer and barometer. We are indebted to discovery for the knowledge of the isles in the Pacific ocean, and for the knowledge of galvanism, and many species of earth not formerly known. This distinction is important, though not always observed.
2. That which is invented. The cotton gin is the invention of Whitney; the steam boat is the invention of Fulton. The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders are said to be inventions of the Greeks; the Tuscan and Composite are inventions of the Latins.
3. Forgery; fiction. Fables are the inventions of ingenious men.
4. In painting, the finding or choice of the objects which are to enter into the composition of the piece. Encyc.
5. In poetry, it is applied to whatever the poet adds to the history of the subject.
6. In rhetoric, the finding and selecting of arguments to prove and illustrate the point in view.
7. The power of inventing; that skill or ingenuity which is or may be employed in contriving any thing new. Thus we say, a man of invention. Encyc.
8. Discovery; the finding of things hidden or before unknown. [Less proper.] Ray.

IN-VENT'IVE, a. [Fr. inventif.]

Able to invent; quick at contrivance; ready at expedients; as, an inventive head or genius. Dryden.

IN-VENT'IVE-LY, adv.

By the power of invention.

IN-VENT'IVE-NESS, n.

The faculty of inventing. [Channing. 1841]

IN-VENT'OR, n.

One who finds out something new; one who contrives and produces any thing not before existing; a contriver. The inventors of many of the most useful arts are not known.

IN-VENT-O'RI-AL-LY, adv.

In the manner of an inventory. Shak.

IN'VENT-O-RI-ED, pp.

Inserted or registered in an inventory.

IN'VENT-O-RY, n. [Sp. and It. inventario; Fr. inventaire; from invent.]

1. An account, catalogue or schedule of all the goods and chattels of a deceased person. In some of the United States, the inventory must include an account of the real as well as the personal estate of the deceased.
2. A catalogue of movables.
3. A catalogue or account of particular things. [An indefinite use of the word.]

IN'VENT-O-RY, v.t. [Fr. inventorier.]

1. To make an inventory of; to make a list, catalogue, or schedule of; as, to inventory the goods and estates of the deceased. Blackstone.
2. To insert or register in an account of goods.

IN-VENT'RESS, n. [from invent.]

A female that invents. Dryden.

IN-VERSE', a. [invers'; L. inversus. See Invert.]

Inverted; reciprocal. Inverse proportion or ratio, is when the effect or result of any operation is less in proportion as the cause is greater, or is greater in proportion as the cause is less. Thus the time in which a quantity of work may be performed, will be less in proportion as the number of workmen is greater, and greater in proportion as the number of workmen is less. If ten men can perform a certain quantity of work in six days, then twenty men will perform the same work in three days. Inverse proportion is opposed to direct.

IN-VERSE'LY, adv. [invers'ly.]

In an inverted order or manner; when more produces less, and less produces more; or when one thing is greater or less, in proportion as another is less or greater.

IN-VER'SION, n. [Fr. from L. inversio. See Invert.]

1. Change of order, so that the last becomes first and the first last; a turning or change of the natural order of things. It is just the inversion of an act of parliament; your Lordship first signed it, and then it was passed among the lords and commons. Dryden.
2. Change of places, so that each takes the place of the other.
3. A turning backward; a contrary rule of operation. Problems in geometry and arithmetic are often proved by inversion, as division by multiplication, and multiplication by division.
4. In grammar, a change of the natural order of words; as, “of all vices, impurity is one of the most detestable,” instead of “impurity is one of the most detestable of all vices.”
5. In music, the change of position either of a subject or of a chord. Busby.

IN-VERT', v.i. [L. inverto; in and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn into a contrary direction; to turn upside down; as, to invert a cone; to invert a hollow vessel.
2. To place in a contrary order or method; as, to invert the rules of justice; to invert the order of words. And winter storms invert the year. Dryden.
3. In music, to change the order of the notes which form a chord, or the parts which compose harmony. Encyc.
4. To divert; to turn into another channel; to embezzle. [Not in use.] Knolles.

IN-VERT'E-BRAL, a.

Destitute of a vertebral column, as animals. Ed. Encyc.

IN-VER'TE-BRATE, n.

An animal having no vertebral column, or spinal bone.

IN-VERT'E-BRA-TED, or IN-VERT'E-BRATE, a.

Destitute of a back bone or vertebral chain. [See Vertebrated.]

IN-VERT'ED, pp.

Turned to a contrary direction; turned upside down; changed in order.

IN-VERT'ED-LY, adv.

In a contrary or reversed order. Derham.

IN-VERT'ENT, n.

A medicine intended to invert the natural order of the successive irritative motions in the system. Darwin.