patent
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈpeɪtənt/, /ˈpætənt/
  • (America) enPR: pătʹənt, IPA: /ˈpætənt/, [pʰæ̝ʔn̩t] or enPR: pātʹənt, IPA: /ˈpeɪtənt/, [pʰe̞ɪʔn̩t]
Noun

patent (plural patents)

  1. A declaration issued by a government agency declaring someone the inventor of a new invention and having the privilege of stopping others from making, using or selling the claimed invention; a letter patent.
  2. A specific grant of ownership of a piece of property; a land patent.
  3. License; formal permission.
    • 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act IV, sc. 1:
      If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent
      to offend, for if it touch not you, it comes near
      nobody.
  4. Patent leather: a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for shoes and accessories.
Translations Verb

patent (patents, present participle patenting; past and past participle patented)

  1. To successfully register an invention with a government agency; to secure a letter patent.
Translations Adjective

patent

  1. (biology) Open, unobstructed, expanded.
    That is a patent ductus arteriosus.
  2. Explicit and obvious.
    Those claims are patent nonsense.
  3. (of flour) That is fine, and consists mostly of the inner part of the endosperm.
  4. Open; unconcealed; conspicuous.
    • He had received instructions, both patent and secret.
  5. Open to public perusal; said of a document conferring some right or privilege.
    letters patent
  6. Protected by a legal patent.
    a patent right; patent medicines
    • Madder […] in King Charles the First's time, was made a patent commodity.
Synonyms Translations


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