patent
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpeɪtənt/
ipa: /ˈpætənt/
enpr: pătʹənt
enpr: pātʹənt
ipa: /ˈpætənt/
ipa: [ˈpʰæ̝ʔn̩t̚]
ipa: /ˈpeɪtənt/
ipa: [ˈpʰe̞ɪʔn̩t̚]
ipa: /ˈpæɪtənt/
ipa: /ˈpætənt/
rhymes: -eɪtənt
rhymes: -ætənt
other: /peɪ-/
other: /pæ-/
other: /pæ-/
other: /peɪ-/
Forms: form: more patent
form: most patent
Etymology: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: At the departure of Philip he had received instructions, both patent and secret, for his guidance as stadholder of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht.
ref: 1856, John Lothrop Motley, “Sowing the Wind”, in The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, part II (Administration of the Duchess Margaret. 1559–1567.), page 240:
synonyms: overt
glosses: Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.
topics: baking
cooking
food
lifestyle
synonyms: overt
glosses: Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.
Of flour: fine, and consisting mostly of the inner part of the endosperm of the grain from which it is milled.
examples: text: She has a patent ductus arteriosus that will require surgery to close.
topics: medicine
sciences
synonyms: overt
glosses: 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.
topics: biology
medicine
natural-sciences
pathology
sciences
veterinary
zoology
synonyms: overt
glosses: Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.
Of an infection: in the phase when the organism causing it can be detected by clinical tests.
examples: text: Those claims are patent nonsense.
text: Again we read at page 174: “Instead of the Universal Roman Catholic Church there existed after 1650 the National Catholic Churches of Spain, France, Austria, Poland, etc. more subject to the Royal supremacy than to the Papal, not, however, so completely as in England.” This is obviously an exaggeration. There never existed in the countries mentioned, least of all in Spain, any National Catholic Church. There would not have existed any such contradictorially-named organization even in England had it not been for the lechery of Henry VIII. Other similar misstatements might be noticed here and there. The author's intention, however, to be just is patent and his success in this respect is noteworthy.
ref: 1916 March, “The Reconciliation of Government with Liberty. By John W[illiam] Burgess, Ph.D., Ju.D., LL.D. Scribner & Sons, New York. 1915. Pp. 410. [book review]”, in The Ecclesiastical Review: A Monthly Publication for the Clergy, volume IV (6th Series; volume LIV overall), number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: American Ecclesiastical Review; The Dolphin Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 373–374:
synonyms: word: express
word: monosemous
word: unambiguous
word: clear
word: direct
word: explicit
word: express
word: monosemic
word: monosemous
word: patent
word: plain
word: specific
word: unambiguous
word: unequivocal
word: univocal
word: apparent
word: arrant
word: undoubted
word: glaring
word: bait
word: blatant
word: clear
word: clear as a bell
word: clear as day
word: clear cut
word: crystal clear
word: cut and dried
word: decided
word: elucidate
word: evident
word: eyely
word: intuitive
word: manifest
word: notable
word: noticeable
word: obvious
word: open-and-shut
word: ostensible
word: palpable
word: patent
word: plain
word: plain as a haystack
word: plain as a pikestaff
word: plain as day
word: plain as Dunstable highway
word: plain as porridge
word: plain as print
word: plain as Salisbury
word: plain as the nose on one's face
word: prima facie
word: res ipsa loquitur
word: straightforward
word: undissembled
glosses: Explicit and obvious.
examples: text: letters patent
glosses: Especially of a document conferring some privilege or right: open to public perusal or use.
examples: text: [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.
ref: 1660 May 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 4th, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC, page 129:
glosses: Appointed or conferred by letters patent.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis.
examples: text: a patent right    patent medicines
text: Madder is eſteemed a very rich Commodity, and what will turn to good profit; ſo that in King Charles I's Time it was made a Patent Commodity.
ref: 1708, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Madder”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC, book V, page 125:
text: [H]e took up an old newspaper; / The paper was right easy to peruse; / He read an article the king attacking, / And a long eulogy of "Patent Blacking."
ref: 1824 March 26, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XV. and XVI., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and H[enry] L[eigh] Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto XVI, stanza XXVI, page 74:
text: "Yes, I have a pair of eyes," replied Sam, "and that's just it. If they wos a pair o' patent double million magnifyin' gas microscopes of hextra power, p'raps I might be able to see through a flight o' stairs and a deal door; but bein' only eyes you see, my wision's limited."
ref: 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Is Wholly Devoted to a Full and Faithful Report of the Memorable Trial of Bardell against Pickwick”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 368:
text: There, were also a small mouse-trap; a patent corkscrew, too good to be used in common; fragments of a silver tea-spoon, that had, by natural decay, arrived at a dissolution of its parts; […]
ref: 1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter III, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book second, page 103:
topics: law
synonyms: patented
glosses: Protected by a legal patent.
examples: text: ["]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.
ref: 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How Mr. Winkle, when He Stepped Out of the Frying-pan, Walked Gently and Comfortably into the Fire”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 405:
glosses: To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for.
Derived terms: word: Chinese patent medicine
word: erectopatent
word: patency
word: patent fuel
word: patent hammer
word: patent inside
word: patent leather
word: patent log
word: patently
word: patent medicine
word: patent outside
word: prepatent
word: prepatently
word: subpatent
word: subpatently