inventar
to invent
verb een-ben-TAHR Less Common
Origin: From Latin 'invenire' (to find, to come upon), whose past participle gave both Spanish inventar and English 'invent'.
Also means
to make up
Usage Note
Inventar covers both technical invention (inventar una máquina) and fabricating a story (se lo inventó — he made it up). The reflexive inventarse emphasizes spontaneous fabrication and is very common colloquially. The noun is invento (invention) or inventor/a (inventor).
Examples
"¿Quién inventó el teléfono?"
Natural Translation
Who invented the telephone?
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