Word: patent (noun, verb, adjective)

Associations

The word "patent" is most often used in the context of inventions and legal rights.

As a noun:

A patent is an official right given by a government to an inventor, allowing them to stop others from making or selling their invention without permission.
Example 1: "He applied for a patent on his new machine." This means he wants legal protection for his invention.
Example 2: "The company holds a patent for this technology." This means the company legally owns the rights.
Example 3: "The patent expired after 20 years." This means the legal protection period ended.

As a verb:

As an adjective:

Synonym difference:

For the noun, a synonym could be "copyright" or "trademark," but these protect different things: copyright protects creative works (like books or music), trademarks protect brand names or logos, and patents protect inventions.
For the adjective meaning "obvious," a synonym could be "clear" or "evident," but "patent" often implies something very obvious or undeniable.

Substitution

Instead of "patent" (noun), you could say "legal protection" or "exclusive right," but these are less specific.
Instead of "patent" (verb), you could say "register" or "protect," but "patent" specifically means to get legal rights for an invention.
Instead of "patent" (adjective), you could say "obvious," "clear," or "evident."

The word "patent" comes from the Latin "patere," meaning "to lie open" or "to be open."
Historically, a "patent" was an official document "open" to public view that granted rights.
As a noun and verb, it relates to legal rights for inventions.
As an adjective, it means something clearly open or obvious.

Can you think of an invention you would want to patent? Why?
How does having a patent help inventors and companies?
When have you seen something described as a "patent" lie or mistake? What made it so obvious?

Model: gpt-4.1-mini