Invent vs. Discover — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Invent and Discover
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Definitions
Invent➦
To produce or contrive (something previously unknown) by the use of ingenuity or imagination.
Discover➦
To notice or learn, especially by making an effort
Got home and discovered that the furnace wasn't working.
Invent➦
To make up; fabricate
Invent a likely excuse.
Discover➦
To be the first, or the first of one's group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.
Invent➦
To design a new process or mechanism.
After weeks of hard work, I invented a new way to alphabetize matchbooks.
Discover➦
To learn about for the first time in one's experience
Discovered a new restaurant on the west side.
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Invent➦
To create something fictional for a particular purpose.
I knew I had to invent an excuse, and quickly.
We need a name to put in this form, so let's just invent one.
Discover➦
To learn something about
Discovered him to be an impostor.
Discovered the brake to be defective.
Invent➦
(obsolete) To come upon; to find; to discover.
Discover➦
To identify (a person) as a potentially prominent performer
A movie star who was discovered in a drugstore by a producer.
Invent➦
To come or light upon; to meet; to find.
And vowed never to return again,Till him alive or dead she did invent.
Discover➦
(Archaic) To reveal or expose.
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Invent➦
To discover, as by study or inquiry; to find out; to devise; to contrive or produce for the first time; - applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine.
Thus first Necessity invented stools.
Discover➦
To find or learn something for the first time.
Turning the corner, I discovered a lovely little shop. I discovered that they sold widgets.
Invent➦
To frame by the imagination; to fabricate mentally; to forge; - in a good or a bad sense; as, to invent the machinery of a poem; to invent a falsehood.
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
He had invented some circumstances, and put the worst possible construction on others.
Discover➦
To remove the cover from; to uncover (a head, building etc.).
Invent➦
Come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or priciple) after a mental effort;
Excogitate a way to measure the speed of light
Discover➦
To expose, uncover.
The gust of wind discovered a bone in the sand.
Invent➦
Make up something artificial or untrue
Discover➦
To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.
This move discovers an attack on a vital pawn.
Discover➦
To question (a person) as part of discovery in a lawsuit.
Discover➦
To reveal (information); to divulge, make known.
I discovered my plans to the rest of the team.
Discover➦
To reconnoitre, explore (an area).
Discover➦
(obsolete) To manifest without design; to show; to exhibit.
Discover➦
To uncover.
Whether any man hath pulled down or discovered any church.
Discover➦
To disclose; to lay open to view; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown).
Go, draw aside the curtains, and discoverThe several caskets to this noble prince.
Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue.
We will discover ourselves unto them.
Discover not a secret to another.
Discover➦
To obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect.
Some to discover islands far away.
Discover➦
To manifest without design; to show.
The youth discovered a taste for sculpture.
Discover➦
To explore; to examine.
Discover➦
To discover or show one's self.
This done, they discover.
Nor was this the first time that they discovered to be followers of this world.
Discover➦
Discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of;
She detected high levels of lead in her drinking water
We found traces of lead in the paint
Discover➦
Make a discovery, make a new finding;
Roentgen discovered X-rays
Physicists believe they found a new elementary particle
Discover➦
Get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally;
I learned that she has two grown-up children
I see that you have been promoted
Discover➦
Make a discovery;
She found that he had lied to her
The story is false, so far as I can discover
Discover➦
Find unexpectedly;
The archeologists chanced upon an old tomb
She struck a goldmine
The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake
Discover➦
Make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret;
The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold
The actress won't reveal how old she is
Bring out the truth
He broke the news to her
Discover➦
See for the first time; make a discovery;
Who discovered the North Pole?
Discover➦
Identify as in botany or biology, for example
