# invention

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/ · frequency rank #6,699

## Definitions
1. Something invented.
2. The act of inventing.
3. The capacity to invent.
4. A small, self-contained composition, particularly those in J.S. Bach’s Two- and Three-part Inventions.
5. The act of discovering or finding; the act of finding out; discovery.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **inventor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/invention-vs-inventor)
- **inventive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/invention-vs-inventive)
- **inversion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/invention-vs-inversion)
- **infection** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/infection-vs-invention)
- **intention** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/intention-vs-invention)
- **injection** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/injection-vs-invention)
- **inception** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inception-vs-invention)
- **insertion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insertion-vs-invention)
- **inventing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inventing-vs-invention)
- **ingestion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ingestion-vs-invention)
- **intentions** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/intentions-vs-invention)

## Common misspellings (14)
`inevntion`, `innvention`, `inveniton`, `invenntion`, `invension`, `inventino`, `inventionn`, `inventoin`, `inventtion`, `invetnion`, `invnetion`, `invvention`, `ivnention`, `nivention`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/invention