Part 368

He had invented some circumstances, and put the worst possible construction on others.

Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- To discover; contrive; devise; frame; design; fabricate; concoct; elaborate. See Discover.

In*vent"er (?), n. One who invents.

In*vent"ful (?), a. Full of invention. J. Gifford.

In*vent"i*ble (?), a. Capable of being invented.

In*vent"i*ble*ness, n. Quality of being inventible.

In*ven"tion (?), n. [L. inventio: cf. F. invention. See Invent.]

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.

<! p. 785 !>

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

Tatham.

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.

We entered by the drawbridge, which has an invention to let one fall if not premonished.

Evelyn.

3. Thought; idea. Shak.

4. A fabrication to deceive; a fiction; a forgery; a falsehood.

Filling their hearers With strange invention.

Shak.

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

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

Dryden.

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.

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

In*ven"tious (?), a. Inventive. [Obs.]

In*vent"ive (?), 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.

In*vent"or (?), n. [L.: cf. F. inventeur.] One who invents or finds out something new; a contriver; especially, one who invents mechanical devices.

In`ven*to"ri*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to an inventory. -- In`ven*to"ri*al*ly, adv. Shak.