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Patent
Definitions
- 1 Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.
"At the departure of Philip he had received instructions, both patent and secret, for his guidance as stadholder of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht."
- 2 Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.; Of flour: fine, and consisting mostly of the inner part of the endosperm of the grain from which it is milled.
- 3 Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.; 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."
- 4 Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.; Of an infection: in the phase when the organism causing it can be detected by clinical tests.
- 5 Explicit and obvious.
"Those claims are patent nonsense."
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- 6 Especially of a document conferring some privilege or right: open to public perusal or use. archaic
"letters patent"
- 7 Appointed or conferred by letters patent. archaic
"[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."
- 8 Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis.
- 9 Protected by a legal patent.
"a patent right patent medicines"
- 10 To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for. broadly, figuratively
"["]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."
- 1 clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment wordnet
- 2 (of a bodily tube or passageway) open; affording free passage wordnet
- 1 An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent. countable, uncountable
"[…] Squib proved clearly by his patent that the house and office did now belong to him."
- 2 a document granting an inventor sole rights to an invention wordnet
- 3 A grant of a monopoly over the manufacture, sale, and use of goods. countable, specifically, uncountable
- 4 an official document granting a right or privilege wordnet
- 5 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. countable, specifically, uncountable
"The patent situation, too, played a part in this, as often a firm sought to produce something which would achieve a given result, and yet not infringe a patent held by another; or a railway engineer would think of a device of his own that would free him of obligation to some manufacturer."
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- 6 A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent. US, countable, historical, uncountable
- 7 A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained. broadly, countable, uncountable
- 8 Ellipsis of patent leather (“a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for accessories and shoes”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable
- 9 A licence or (formal) permission to do something. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"If you be ſo fond ouer her iniquity, giue her patent to offend, for if it touches not you, it comes neere no body."
- 10 A characteristic or quality that one possesses; in particular (hyperbolic) as if exclusively; a monopoly. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"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."
- 11 The combination of seven bets on three selections, offering a return even if only one bet comes in. countable, uncountable
- 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. transitive
"To his great credit, Manson refused to patent his invention, as he desired to remove any obstacle to its adoption by other companies."
- 2 make open to sight or notice wordnet
- 3 To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership. US, historical, transitive
- 4 obtain a patent for wordnet
- 5 To be closely associated or identified with (something); to monopolize. figuratively, transitive
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- 6 grant rights to; grant a patent for wordnet
Etymology
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], which is either: * 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 patēns, littera patēns, litterae patentēs). 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.
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], which is either: * 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 patēns, littera patēns, litterae patentēs). 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.
From Middle English patent, patente (“wide open; clear, unobstructed; unlimited; of a document: available for public inspection”) [and other forms], 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”).
See also for "patent"
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