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Entry 7 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Patent

/(păt"ent [or] pāt"ent)/ · Pat·ent · IPA /ˈpætənt/
01 a. Open; expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest; public; conspicuous.
  1. 1.
    Open; expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest; public; conspicuous.
    “He had received instructions, both patent and secret.” — Motley.
  2. 2.
    Open to public perusal; -- said of a document conferring some right or privilege; as, letters patent. See Letters patent, under 3d Letter. See: Letter
  3. 3.
    Appropriated or protected by letters patent; secured by official authority to the exclusive possession, control, and disposal of some person or party; patented; as, a patent right; patent medicines.
    “Madder . . . in King Charles the First's time, was made a patent commodity.” — Mortimer.
  4. 4.
    Spreading; forming a nearly right angle with the steam or branch; as, a patent leaf.(Bot.)
Phrases & compounds
Patent leather — a varnished or lacquered leather, used for boots and shoes, and in carriage and harness work.
Patent office — a government bureau for the examination of inventions and the granting of patents.
Patent right — The exclusive right to an invention, and the control of its manufacture
Patent rolls — the registers, or records, of patents.
02 n. A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document, issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or privilege on some person or party.
  1. 1.
    A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document, issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or privilege on some person or party.
    “Four other gentlemen of quality remained mentioned in that patent.” — Fuller.
  2. 2.
    The right or privilege conferred by such a document; hence, figuratively, a right, privilege, or license of the nature of a patent.
    “If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend.” — Shak.
03 v. t. To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to secure or protect by patent; as, to patent an invention; to patent public lands.
imp. & p. p. Patented; p. pr. & vb. n. Patenting
  1. 1.
    To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to secure or protect by patent; as, to patent an invention; to patent public lands.