/ Dictionary / Index P patent: Meaning and Definition of Find definitions for: pat•ent Pronunciation: (pat'nt or, for 10, 12–15, pāt'- esp. Brit. pāt'nt), [key] — n. the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years. an invention or process protected by this right. an official document conferring such a right; letters patent. the instrument by which the government of the United States conveys the legal fee-simple title to public land. patent leather. —adj. protected by a patent; patented: a patent cooling device. pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, esp. on inventions: a patent attorney; patent law. conferred by a patent, as a right or privilege. holding a patent, as a person. readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious: a patent breach of good manners. made of patent leather: patent shoes. lying open; not enclosed or shut in: a patent field. expanded or spreading. open, as a doorway or a passage. open, in various degrees, to the passage of the breath stream. —v.t. to take out a patent on; obtain the exclusive rights to (an invention, process, etc.) by a patent. to originate and establish as one's own. to heat and quench (wire) so as to prepare for cold-drawing. to grant (public land) by a patent. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. See also: patent (Thesaurus) patency patent ambiguity Related Content Daily Word Quiz: plausible Analogy of the Day: Today’s Analogy Spelling Bee: Today’s Spelling Bee Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language