\Pat"ent\ (p[a^]t"ent or p[=a]t"ent), a. [L. patens,
-entis, p. pr. of patere to be open: cf. F. patent. Cf.
{Fathom}.]
1.
Note: (Oftener pronounced p[=a]t"ent in this sense) Open;
      expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest;
      public; conspicuous.
            He had received instructions, both patent and
            secret.                            --Motley.
2. Open to public perusal; -- said of a document conferring
   some right or privilege; as, letters patent. See {Letters
   patent}, under 3d {Letter}.
3. Appropriated or protected by letters patent; secured by
   official authority to the exclusive possession, control,
   and disposal of some person or party; patented; as, a
   patent right; patent medicines.
         Madder . . . in King Charles the First's time, was
         made a patent commodity.              --Mortimer.
4. (Bot.) Spreading; forming a nearly right angle with the
   steam or branch; as, a patent leaf.
{Patent leather}, a varnished or lacquered leather, used for
   boots and shoes, and in carriage and harness work.
{Patent office}, a government bureau for the examination of
   inventions and the granting of patents.
{Patent right}.
   (a) The exclusive right to an invention, and the control
       of its manufacture.
   (b) (Law) The right, granted by the sovereign, of
       exclusive control of some business of manufacture, or
       of the sale of certain articles, or of certain offices
       or prerogatives.
{Patent rolls}, the registers, or records, of patents.

\Pat"ent\, n. [Cf. F. patente. See {Patent}, a.]
1. A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document,
   issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or
   privilege on some person or party. Specifically:
   (a) A writing securing to an invention.
   (b) A document making a grant and conveyance of public
       lands.
             Four other gentlemen of quality remained
             mentioned in that patent.         --Fuller.
Note: In the United States, by the act of 1870, patents for
      inventions are issued for seventeen years, without the
      privilege of renewal except by act of Congress.
2. The right or privilege conferred by such a document;
   hence, figuratively, a right, privilege, or license of the
   nature of a patent.
         If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her
         patent to offend.                     --Shak.

\Pat"ent\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Patented}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Patenting}.]
To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to
secure or protect by patent; as, to patent an invention; to
patent public lands.