different between invention vs inventory

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

From Middle English inventorie, from Old French inventoire (whence French inventaire), from Late Latin inventarium, from Latin invenire (“to find out”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??n.v?n.t?i/, /?n?v?n.t?.?i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??n.v?n?t?.?i/

Noun

inventory (plural inventories)

1. (operations) The stock of an item on hand at a particular location or business.

   Due to an undersized inventory at the Boston outlet, customers had to travel to Providence to find the item.

2. (operations) A detailed list of all of the items on hand.

   The inventory included several items that one wouldn't normally think to find at a cheese shop.

3. (operations) The process of producing or updating such a list.

   This month's inventory took nearly three days.

4. (role-playing games) A space containing the items available to a character for immediate use.

   You can't get through the underground tunnel if there are more than three items in your inventory.

5. (linguistics, especially phonology) The total set of a (specified) linguistic feature (within a language etc.)

   Germanic languages have a marked tendency towards large vocalic inventories.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:list

Related terms

• invent
• invented
• inventive
• invention
• inventor
• reinvent

Translations

Verb

inventory (third-person singular simple present inventories, present participle inventorying, simple past and past participle inventoried)

1. (transitive, operations) To take stock of the resources or items on hand; to produce an inventory.

   The main job of the night shift was to inventory the store, and restock when necessary.

Synonyms

• index
• inventorize
• take inventory
• take stock

Translations

Further reading

• inventory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• inventory in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.