invention
/ɪnˈvɛnʃən/noun
invention is spelled I-N-V-E-N-T-I-O-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, invention means “Something invented” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of invention is inventions.
How many letters and syllables are in invention?
| Letters | 9: I-N-V-E-N-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,674th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is invention?
Invention appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce invention?
- UK /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/
Invention has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-invention.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with invention?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as invention from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnʃən/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of invention
- inventions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does invention mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something invented.
My new invention will let you alphabetize your matchbook collection in half the usual time.
- 2
The act of inventing.
The invention of the printing press was probably the most significant innovation of the medieval ages.
- 3
The capacity to invent.
It took quite a bit of invention to come up with a plan, but we did it.
- 4
A small, self-contained composition, particularly those in J.S. Bach’s Two- and Three-part Inventions.
I particularly like the inventions in C-minor.
- 5
archaicThe act of discovering or finding; the act of finding out; discovery.
That judicial method which serveth best for the invention of truth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Invention in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | invention |
| German | Erfindung , Erfinden , Einfallsreichtum , Invention |
| Portuguese | invenção , inventividade |
| Spanish | invención, invento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does invention come from?
From Middle English invencion, invencioun, from Latin inventiō either directly or via Middle French invencion, from Latin invenīre (“to discover, find, invent”), from in- (“in-: in, into”) + venīre (“to come”). Doublet of inventio. By surface analysis, invent + -ion. Displaced native Old English orþanc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).