different between invention vs contraption

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French invencion, envention, from the Latin inventi?, from inveni?. Doublet of inventio.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?v?n??n/

Noun

invention (countable and uncountable, plural inventions)

1. Something invented.

   (here signifying a process or mechanism not previously devised)

   (here signifying a fiction created for a particular purpose)

   • 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

     Warren Sheffield is telephoning Rose long distance at half past six. […] Personally, I wouldn't marry a man who proposed to me over an invention.
2. The act of inventing.
3. The capacity to invent.

4. (music) A small, self-contained composition, particularly those in J.S. Bach’s Two- and Three-part Inventions.
   • 1880, George Grove (editor and entry author), A Dictionary of Music and Musicians II, London: Macmillan & Co., page 15, Invention:

     INVENTION.?A term used by J. S. Bach, and probably by him only, for small pianoforte pieces?—?15 in 2 parts and 15 in 3 parts?—?each developing a single idea, and in some measure answering to the Impromptu of a later day.

5. (archaic) The act of discovering or finding; the act of finding out; discovery.

Synonyms

• discovery

Related terms

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “invention”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inventi?, inventi?nem, from invenio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.v??.sj??/

Noun

invention f (plural inventions)

1. invention

Derived terms

• la nécessité est la mère de l'invention

Related terms

• inventer
• inventeur

Further reading

• “invention” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

Possibly a Western US English dialectal word of unknown origin. Perhaps from contrive + trap + -tion, while also possibly approximating construction. Chambers suggests contrivance + adaption. Neither Chambers nor Concise Oxford suggests a US origin. cf cantrip (Scots dialect), a wilful piece of trickery.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /k?n?t?æp.??n/

Noun

contraption (plural contraptions)

1. A machine that is complicated and precarious.
2. (figuratively, derogatory or ironic) Any object.

Synonyms

• (mechanical device): contrivance, device, fandango, gadget, mechanism, construction

Translations

References