inventor

See also: inventór

English

Alternative forms

• inventour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inventor. By surface analysis, invent +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɛntɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɛntə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntə(ɹ)

Noun

inventor (plural inventors)

2. One who invents, either as a hobby or as an occupation.

   Thomas Edison was the inventor of the phonograph.

   The young inventor received a patent for her design.

Coordinate terms

• inventress
• inventrix

Derived terms

• coinventor
• innoventor
• inventorship

Related terms

• invent
• inventer
• invention

Translations

one who invents

• Arabic: مُخْتَرِع m (muḵtariʕ), مُبْتَكِر m (mubtakir)
• Armenian: գյուտարար (hy) (gyutarar)
• Belarusian: вынахо́днік m (vynaxódnik), вынахо́дніца f (vynaxódnica)
• Bulgarian: изобрета́тел (bg) m (izobretátel), откривател (bg) m (otkrivatel)
• Catalan: inventor (ca) m, inventora (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發明家 / 发明家 (zh) (fāmíngjiā)

• Czech: vynálezce (cs) m
• Danish: opfinder c
• Dutch: uitvinder (nl) m
• Esperanto: (♂♀) inventisto, (♀) inventistino
• Estonian: leiutaja, leidur
• Finnish: keksijä (fi)
• French: inventeur (fr) m, inventrice (fr) f
• Galician: inventor m
• German: Erfinder (de) m, Erfinderin (de) f
• Greek: εφευρέτης (el) m (efevrétis), εφευρέτρια (el) f (efevrétria)

  Ancient Greek: καινουργός m (kainourgós), ἐπινοητής m (epinoētḗs), εὑρετής m (heuretḗs)

• Hungarian: feltaláló (hu)
• Irish: aireagóir
• Italian: inventore (it) m, inventrice f, ideatore (it)
• Japanese: 発明者 (ja) (はつめいしゃ, hatsumeisha)
• Kazakh: өнертапқыш (önertapqyş)
• Korean: 발명가(發明家) (ko) (balmyeongga), 발명자(發明者) (balmyeongja) (esp. in law)
• Latin: inventor (la) m, inventrix f, repertor m
• Lithuanian: išradėjas m
• Mongolian: зохион бүтээгч (zoxion büteegč), ᠵᠣᠬᠢᠶᠠᠨ
  ᠪᠦᠲᠦᠭᠡᠭᠴᠢ (ǰokiyan bütügeɣči)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oppfinner m

• Persian: مخترع (fa) (moxtare')
• Polish: wynalazca (pl) m, wynalazczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: inventor (pt) m, inventora (pt) f
• Russian: изобрета́тель (ru) m (izobretátelʹ), изобрета́тельница (ru) f (izobretátelʹnica), зате́йник (ru) m (zatéjnik)
• Spanish: inventor (es) m, inventora f, inventriz f
• Swedish: uppfinnare (sv) c
• Thai: นักประดิษฐ์ (nák-bprà-dìt)
• Turkish: mucit (tr)
• Ukrainian: винахі́дник m (vynaxídnyk), винахі́дниця f (vynaxídnycja)
• Uyghur: كەشپىياتچى (keshpiyatchi)
• Volapük: (♂♀) datuvan (vo), (♂) hidatuvan, (♀) jidatuvan

Anagrams

• noverint

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inventōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [im.bənˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [iɱ.vənˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iɱ.venˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

inventor (feminine inventora, masculine plural inventors, feminine plural inventores)

1. inventive

Noun

inventor m (plural inventors, feminine inventora, feminine plural inventores)

1. inventor

Related terms

• invenció
• inventar

Further reading

• “inventor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “inventor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “inventor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inventor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin inventor, inventōrem.

Noun

inventor m (plural inventores, feminine inventora, feminine plural inventoras)

1. inventor

Related terms

• inventar

Further reading

• “inventor”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin inventor.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /inˈvɛntor/ [inˈfen̪.t̪ɔr]
• Rhymes: -ɛntor
• Syllabification: in‧ven‧tor

Noun

inventor (plural inventor-inventor)

1. inventor

   Synonyms: pencipta, penginvensi, pereka cipta

Related terms

• invensi
• inventif

Further reading

• “inventor”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Latin

Etymology

From inveniō +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪnˈwɛn.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iɱˈvɛn.tor]

Noun

inventor m (genitive inventōris, feminine inventrīx); third declension

1. contriver, author, discoverer, inventor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	inventor	inventōrēs
genitive	inventōris	inventōrum
dative	inventōrī	inventōribus
accusative	inventōrem	inventōrēs
ablative	inventōre	inventōribus
vocative	inventor	inventōrēs

Related terms

• inventio

Descendants

• Catalan: inventor
• English: inventor
• French: inventeur
  • → Romanian: inventor
• Galician: inventor
• Italian: inventore
• Portuguese: inventor
  • Sicilian: mminturi
• Spanish: inventor

References

• “inventor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “inventor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "inventor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “inventor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a legislator: legum scriptor, conditor, inventor
    

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inventōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoʁ/ [ĩ.vẽˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoʁ/ [ĩ.vẽˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoʁ/ [ĩ.vẽˈtoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈtoɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.bẽˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.vẽˈto.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: in‧ven‧tor

Noun

inventor m (plural inventores, feminine inventora, feminine plural inventoras)

1. inventor (one who invents things)

Related terms

• invenção
• inventar

Further reading

• “inventor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French inventeur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.venˈtor/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -or
• Hyphenation: in‧ven‧tor

Noun

inventor m (plural inventori)

1. (obsolete) synonym of inventator (“inventor”)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	inventor	inventorul		inventori	inventorii
genitive-dative	inventor	inventorului		inventori	inventorilor
vocative	inventorule			inventorilor

Further reading

• “inventor”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inventōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imbenˈtoɾ/ [ĩm.bẽn̪ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: in‧ven‧tor

Noun

inventor m (plural inventores, feminine inventora or inventriz, feminine plural inventoras or inventrices)

1. inventor (one who invents things)

Related terms

• invención
• inventar

Further reading

• “inventor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025