patent

An 1855 reprint of the Scottish inventor James Watt’s 1769 patent (sense 1.2.2) for the separate condenser – a device to lessen the consumption of steam in steam engines.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪtənt/, /ˈpæ-/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: pătʹənt, pātʹənt, IPA^(key): /ˈpætənt/, [pʰæ̝ʔn̩t̚], /ˈpeɪ-/, [pʰe̞ɪ-]
• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -eɪtənt
• Hyphenation: pa‧tent

The noun is derived from Middle English patent (“document granting an office, property, right, title, etc.; document granting permission, licence; papal indulgence, pardon”) [and other forms],[3] which is either:[4]

• a clipping of lettre patent, lettres patente, lettres patentes [and other forms]; or
• directly from Anglo-Norman and Middle French patente (modern French patent), a clipping of Anglo-Norman lettres patentes, Middle French lettres patentes, lettre patente, and Old French patentes lettres (“document granting an office, privilege, right, etc., or making a decree”) (compare Late Latin patens, littera patens, litterae patentes).[1]

For the derivation of Anglo-Norman and Middle French patente (adjective) in lettre patente, see etymology 2 below.

The verb is derived from the noun.[5]

patent (countable and uncountable, plural patents)

1. (law)
   1. An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent.
      • 1660 February 20 (date written; Gregorian calendar)​, Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “February 10th, 1659–1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, OCLC 1016700617, page 52:

        […] Squib proved clearly by his patent that the house and office did now belong to him.

      • 1858, John M. Neale, A History of the So-called Jansenist Church of Holland (page 116)

        Philip of Spain had offered a reward of 25,000 crowns, a patent of nobility, and immunity for all past crimes, to the assassinator of the Prince of Orange.

   2. (specifically)
      1. (originally) A grant of a monopoly over the manufacture, sale, and use of goods.
      2. A declaration issued by a government agency that the inventor of a new invention has the sole privilege of making, selling, or using the claimed invention for a specified period.
         • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8839, London: Economist Group, ISSN 0013-0613, OCLC 805074337, archived from the original on 26 March 2019, page 55:

           The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

   3. (US, historical) A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent.
2. (by extension) A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained.
3. (uncountable) Short for patent leather (“a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for accessories and shoes”).
4. (figuratively)
   1. A licence or (formal) permission to do something.
      • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, OCLC 724111485, [Act IV, scene i], page 66:

        If you be ſo fond ouer her iniquity, giue her patent to offend, for if it touches not you, it comes neere no body.

   2. A characteristic or quality that one possesses; in particular (hyperbolic) as if exclusively; a monopoly.
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, OCLC 1041029189, [Act I, scene i]:

        So will I growe, ſo liue, ſo die my Lord, / Ere I will yield my virgin Patent, vp / Vnto his Lordſhippe, whoſe vnwiſhed yoake / My ſoule conſents not to giue ſouerainty.

5. (gambling) The combination of seven bets on three selections, offering a return even if only one bet comes in.

patent (third-person singular simple present patents, present participle patenting, simple past and past participle patented)

1. (transitive, law)
   1. To (successfully) register (a new invention) with a government agency to obtain the sole privilege of its manufacture, sale, and use for a specified period.
      • 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US Rules Human Genes Can’t be Patented”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 189, number 2, London: Guardian News & Media, ISSN 0959-3608, OCLC 1060180436, page 10:

        The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

   2. (US, historical) To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To be closely associated or identified with (something); to monopolize.

From Middle English patent, patente (“wide open; clear, unobstructed; unlimited; of a document: available for public inspection”) [and other forms],[6] from Anglo-Norman and Middle French patent (modern French patent), and directly from their etymon Latin patēns (“open; accessible, passable; evident, manifest; exposed, vulnerable”), the present active participle of pateō (“to be open; to be accessible, attainable; to be exposed, vulnerable; of frontiers or land: to extent, increase”), from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”).[1]

patent (comparative more patent, superlative most patent)

1. Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.

   Synonym: overt

   • 1856, John Lothrop Motley, “Sowing the Wind”, in The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 1138660207, part II (Administration of the Duchess Margaret. 1559–1567.), page 240:

     At the departure of Philip he had received instructions, both patent and secret, for his guidance as stadholder of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht.

   1. (baking) Of flour: fine, and consisting mostly of the inner part of the endosperm of the grain from which it is milled.
   2. (medicine) Open, unobstructed; specifically, especially of the ductus arteriosus or foramen ovale in the heart, having not closed as would have happened in normal development.

      She has a patent ductus arteriosus that will require surgery to close.

   3. (medicine, veterinary medicine) Of an infection: in the phase when the organism causing it can be detected by clinical tests.
2. Explicit and obvious.

   Synonyms: express, monosemous, unambiguous; see also Thesaurus:explicit, Thesaurus:obvious

   Those claims are patent nonsense.

   • 1916 March, “The Reconciliation of Government with Liberty. By John W[illiam] Burgess, Ph.D., Ju.D., LL.D. Scribner & Sons, New York. 1915. Pp. 410. [book review]”, in The Ecclesiastical Review: A Monthly Publication for the Clergy, volume IV (6th Series; volume LIV overall), number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: American Ecclesiastical Review; The Dolphin Press, ISSN 0271-6836, OCLC 718545999, pages 373–374:

     Again we read at page 174: “Instead of the Universal Roman Catholic Church there existed after 1650 the National Catholic Churches of Spain, France, Austria, Poland, etc. more subject to the Royal supremacy than to the Papal, not, however, so completely as in England.” This is obviously an exaggeration. There never existed in the countries mentioned, least of all in Spain, any National Catholic Church. There would not have existed any such contradictorially-named organization even in England had it not been for the lechery of Henry VIII. Other similar misstatements might be noticed here and there. The author's intention, however, to be just is patent and his success in this respect is noteworthy.

3. (archaic)
   1. Especially of a document conferring some privilege or right: open to public perusal or use.

      letters patent

   2. Appointed or conferred by letters patent.
      • 1660 May 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar)​, Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 4th, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, OCLC 1016700617, page 129:

        [H]e did at last think of an office which do belong to him in case the King do restore every man to his places that ever had been patent, which is to be one of the clerks of the signet, which will be a fine employment for one of his sons.

4. (botany) Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis.
5. (law) Protected by a legal patent.

   Synonym: patented

   a patent right    patent medicines

   • 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Madder”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708, OCLC 13320837, book V, page 125:

     Madder is eſteemed a very rich Commodity, and what will turn to good profit; ſo that in King Charles I's Time it was made a Patent Commodity.

   • 1824 March 26, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XV. and XVI., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and H[enry] L[eigh] Hunt, […], OCLC 560104685, canto XVI, stanza XXVI, page 74:

     [H]e took up an old newspaper; / The paper was right easy to peruse; / He read an article the king attacking, / And a long eulogy of "Patent Blacking."

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Is Wholly Devoted to a Full and Faithful Report of the Memorable Trial of Bardell against Pickwick”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, OCLC 28228280, page 368:

     "Yes, I have a pair of eyes," replied Sam, "and that's just it. If they wos a pair o' patent double million magnifyin' gas microscopes of hextra power, p'raps I might be able to see through a flight o' stairs and a deal door; but bein' only eyes you see, my wision's limited."

   • 1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter III, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, OCLC 457185834, book second, page 103:

     There, were also a small mouse-trap; a patent corkscrew, too good to be used in common; fragments of a silver tea-spoon, that had, by natural decay, arrived at a dissolution of its parts; […]

6. (by extension, figuratively) To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for.
   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How Mr. Winkle, when He Stepped Out of the Frying-pan, Walked Gently and Comfortably into the Fire”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, OCLC 28228280, page 405:

     ["]Ben, my fine fellow, put your hand into the cupboard, and bring out the patent digester." Mr. Benjamin Allen smiled his readiness, and produced from the closet at his elbow a black bottle half full of brandy.

• patent on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Patten, patten, pét-nat

From Latin patēns, pateō.

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /pəˈtent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /pəˈten/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /paˈtent/

patent f (plural patents)

1. patent
   • 2021 December 12, Xavier Grau del Cerro, Núria Rius Montaner, “Espanya renuncia a la patent unitària europea per l’idioma”, in Ara.cat‎, retrieved 2021-12-13:

     La patent unitària europea entrarà previsiblement en vigor l’any que ve, un cop Àustria ha ratificat la seva adhesió i Alemanya està a punt de fer-ho. Un sistema que ha de permetre, amb una única aplicació, que una patent entri en vigor en tots els estats que s’hi han sumat.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• “patent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “patent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “patent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpatɛnt]

patent m

1. patent (declaration issued by a government to an inventor)

• patentový

patent n (singular definite patentet, plural indefinite patenter)

1. patent

• “patent” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /paːˈtɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧tent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Borrowed from Middle French patente, from lettres patentes (“letter in which a privilege is granted”), from Latin litterae patentes.

patent n (plural patenten, diminutive patentje n)

1. patent [from 16th c.]

   Synonym: octrooi

• patentrecht

• → Indonesian: paten
• → Papiamentu: patènt

Borrowed from German patent, originating in student slang. Related to etymology 1.

patent (comparative patenter, superlative patentst)

1. excellent, exquisite [from mid 19th c.]

   Synonyms: geweldig, voortreffelijk

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patent (feminine patente, masculine plural patents, feminine plural patentes)

1. patent (obvious)

• “patent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Audio

  (file)

patent (strong nominative masculine singular patenter, comparative patenter, superlative am patentesten)

1. clever
2. ingenious

• “patent” in Duden online
• “patent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From German Patent (“patent”) or German patent (“clever; ingenious”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɒtɛnt]
• Hyphenation: pa‧tent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

patent (plural patentek or patentok)

1. snap fastener, press stud

   Synonym: nyomókapocs

2. (archaic) patent (official document)

   Synonym: szabadalom

or

• patent in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.tent/, [ˈpät̪ɛn̪t̪]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.tent/, [ˈpäːt̪en̪t̪]

patent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of pateō

From a short form of lettres patentes, from Anglo-Norman lettre patente (“open letter”), from Latin littera patens.

• patente, patentt

• IPA^(key): /paˈtɛnt/, /ˈpatɛnt/

patent (plural patentes)

1. A letter conferring a privilege or status.
2. Such a privilege or status conferred.
3. (rare) A letter conferring other advantages.

• English: patent (noun)

• “patent(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

From Middle French patent, from Old French, from Latin patēns.

• patente

• IPA^(key): /paˈtɛnt/, /ˈpatɛnt/

patent

1. (rare) open, unconfined, unrestricted

• English: patent (adjective)

• “patent(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

patent

1. Alternative form of patene

Short form of Anglo-Norman lettre patente.

patent n (definite singular patentet, indefinite plural patent or patenter, definite plural patenta or patentene)

1. patent

• patentere

• “patent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Short form of Anglo-Norman lettre patente.

patent n (definite singular patentet, indefinite plural patent, definite plural patenta)

1. patent

• “patent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from French patente, from Latin patēns.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpa.tɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɛnt
• Syllabification: pa‧tent

patent m inan

1. patent (official declaration that someone is the inventor of something)

• patent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• patent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From French patent.

patent m or n (feminine singular patentă, masculine plural patenți, feminine and neuter plural patente)

1. patent

• IPA^(key): /pǎtent/
• Hyphenation: pa‧tent

pàtent m (Cyrillic spelling па̀тент)

1. patent (official declaration that someone is the inventor of something)

• IPA^(key): /paˈtɛnt/

patent n

1. patent

• patten