\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.                  --Spenser.
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. --Cowper.
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. --Milton.
         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}.