• vt. 授予專利；取得…的專利權
• adj. 專利的；新奇的；顯然的
• n. 專利權；執照；專利品

來自拉丁語patere,展開，攤開，來自PIE*pete,展開，詞源同petal,feather.-ent,現在分詞后綴。引申詞義公開的，明顯的。詞義專利縮寫自letters patent,公開信，原指政府公文。

patent

patent: [14] Etymologically, patent means simply ‘open’. Its ultimate source is patēns, the present participle of the Latin verb patēre ‘be open’ (a relative of English fathom and petal). It was used particularly in the term letters patent, which denoted an ‘open letter’, particularly an official one which gave some particular authorization, injunction, etc.

It soon came to be used as a noun in its own right, signifying such a letter, and by the end of the 16th century it had acquired the meaning ‘exclusive licence granted by such a letter’. This gradually passed into the modern sense ‘official protection granted to an invention’.
=> fathom, petal

patent (n.)

late 14c., "open letter or document from some authority," shortened form of Anglo-French lettre patent (also in Medieval Latin (litter?) patentes), literally "open letter" (late 13c.), from Old French patente (see patent (adj.).

The Letters Patent were ... written upon open sheets of parchment, with the Great Seal pendent at the bottom ... [while] the 'Litter? Claus?,' or Letters Close, ... being of a more private nature, and addressed to one or two individuals only, were closed or folded up and sealed on the outside. [S.R. Scargill-Bird, "A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents at the Public Record Office," 1891]

Meaning "a license covering an invention" is from 1580s.

patent (v.)

"to obtain right to land," 1670s, from patent (n.). The meaning "copyright an invention" is first recorded 1822, from earlier meaning "obtain exclusive right or monopoly" (1789), a privilege granted by the Crown via letters patent. Related: Patented; patenting.

patent (adj.)

late 14c., in letters patent, literally "open letter," from Old French patente, from Latin patentum (nominative patens) "open, lying open," present participle of patere "lie open, be open," from PIE *pete- "to spread" (see pace (n.)). Sense of "open to view, plain, clear" is first recorded c. 1500. Related: Patently.

1. He wore patent leather shoes.

他穿著漆皮鞋。

來自柯林斯例句

2. P&G applied for a patent on its cookies.

寶潔公司為它的餅干申請專利權。

來自柯林斯例句

3. It sued Centrocorp for patent infringement.

它訴Centrocorp公司侵犯專利權。

來自柯林斯例句

4. It is patent to all that this is a good chance.

大家都明白這是一個好機會.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.

該商標已在專利局登記注冊.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》