innovate en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /ˈɪn.ə.veɪt/
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *nu Proto-Indo-European *néwos Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Indo-European *néweh₂ti Proto-Italic *nowāō Latin novō Latin innovō Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin innovātusbor. English innovate First attested in 1548; borrowed from Latin innovātus, perfect passive participle of innovō (“to renew”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Meanings
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(obsolete, transitive) To alter, to change into something new; to revolutionize.
From his attempts upon the civil power, he proceeds to innovate God's worship.
1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:But the most frequent maladies are such as proceed from themselves, as first when religion and God's service is neglected, innovated or altered […].
, New York 2001, p.80
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(intransitive) To introduce something new to a particular environment; to do something new.
Japanese retail stores have strove to, and have succeeded in, fulfilling these severe demands, and in doing so, have constantly had to innovate both technologically and institutionally in order to keep up with the competition.
2013 February 6, Hideo Otake, “Revising the Interpretation of the Japanese Economy”, in Michio Muramatsu, Frieder Naschold, editors, State and Administration in Japan and Germany: A Comparative Perspective on Continuity and Change, page 319:
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(transitive) To introduce (something) as new.
to innovate a word or an act
The Russian defense industrial base (DIB) continues to innovate military equipment and weapons for Russian forces to use in Ukraine.
2025 February 4, Nicole Wolkov, Christina Harward, Olivia Gibson, Grace Mappes, Kateryna Stepanenko, George Barros, Frederick W. Kagan, Nate Trotter, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 4, 2025”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| innovates | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| innovated | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| innovated | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| innovating | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
innovent · outinnovate · uninnovated
Relateds
innovative · innovation · innovatory · innovator
Synonyms
boldly go where no man has gone before · novelize · break new ground · invent · innovate · pioneer
Translations (25)
fi tehdä uutta (to introduce something new) · da forny (to introduce something new) · nl vernieuwen (to introduce something new) · no fornye (to introduce something new) · sv förnya (to introduce something new) · sk inovovať (to introduce something new) · nl innoveren (to introduce something new) · is endurnýja (to introduce something new) · is innleiða nýjungar (to introduce something new) · cs inovovat (to introduce something new) · de innovieren (to introduce something new) · es innovar (to introduce something new) · fi keksiä (to introduce something new) · fi tehdä uudella tavalla (to introduce something new) · fr innover (to introduce something new) · de erneuern (to introduce something new) · hu újít (to introduce something new) · it innovare (to introduce something new) · grc καινουργέω (to introduce something new) · bg нововъве́ждам (to introduce something new) · ca innovar (to introduce something new) · fi innovoida (to introduce something new) · de neuern (to introduce something new) · cmn 創新 /创新 (to introduce something new) · pt inovar (to introduce something new)