In*vent" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Invented; p. pr. & vb. n. Inventing.] [L. inventus, p. p. of invenire to come upon, to find, invent; pref. in- in + venire to come, akin to E. come: cf. F. inventer. See Come.]

1. To come or light upon; to meet; to find. [Obs.]

And vowed never to return again,
Till him alive or dead she did invent.

2. To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to contrive or produce for the first time; -- applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine.

Thus first Necessity invented stools.

3. To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; -- in a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent a falsehood.

Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.

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

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

• To design a new process or mechanism.
        After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.
  
• To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
        I knew I had to invent an excuse, and quickly.
        We need a name to put in this form, so let's just invent one.