patent
patent Lexical Profile
patent Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.
"The biomedical firm applied for a patent on its newly developed diagnostic device."
Patent leather, a type of coated leather with a high-gloss finish, or an article made from it.
"She wore a pair of black patent shoes to the formal gala."
• verb
To obtain an official legal right to manufacture, use, or sell an invention or process exclusively.
"The engineer decided to patent her solar panel design before presenting it to investors."
• adjective
Easily recognizable, obvious, or unmistakable.
"She was smiling with patent delight as she opened the acceptance letter."
Protected by or manufactured under an exclusive legal right or trademark.
"In the nineteenth century, traveling merchants frequently sold dubious patent medicines."
Open and unobstructed, permitting the free flow of air or fluid (used in medicine and anatomy of vessels, ducts, or passages).
"The paramedic checked the unconscious patient to ensure that the airway remained patent."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'patent' (an exclusive legal right for a technical invention) with 'copyright' (which protects original creative and artistic works) or 'trademark' (which protects brand names and logos).
• Rhymes for patent
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Old French from the Latin 'patens', the present participle of 'patere' ('to lie open'). The legal sense derives from the Anglo-Norman phrase 'lettres patentes' ('open letters'), referring to royal decrees issued unsealed so they could be inspected by the public.