patent

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.
• noun Letters patent.
• noun An invention protected by such a grant.
• noun A grant of publicly owned land, particularly to a homesteader.
• noun The official document of such a grant.
• noun The land so granted.
• noun An exclusive right or title.
• adjective Protected or conferred by a patent or letters patent.
• adjective Of, relating to, or dealing in patents.
• adjective Obvious; plain: synonym: apparent.
• adjective Not blocked; open.
• adjective Spreading open; expanded.
• adjective Relating to or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is protected by a trademark.
• adjective Of high quality. Used of flour.
• transitive verb To obtain a patent on or for (an invention, for example).
• transitive verb To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of (an idea, for example).
• transitive verb To grant a patent to or for.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To grant by patent; make the subject of a patent; grant an exclusive right to by letters patent.
• To obtain a patent upon; obtain an exclusive right in by securing letters patent.
• noun A Middle English form of patent.
• Lying open; open; expanded.
• Specifically— In botany, spreading; open; either widely spreading or diverging widely from an axis.
• In zoology, patulous; open, as by the size of an aperture, the shallowness of a cavity, etc.
• Manifest to all; unconcealed; evident; obvious; conspicuous.
• Open to the perusal of all: as, letters patent. See letter.
• Appropriated by letters patent; secured by law or patent as an exclusive privilege; restrained from general use; patented.
• Synonyms Plain, obvious, palpable, unmistakable, glaring, notorious.
• noun An official document, sometimes called letters patent (which see, under letter), conferring or granting a privilege; also, the privilege so granted: as, a patent of nobility; a patent conferring the right to engage in a particular trade or pursuit, maintain a place of amusement, or the like, usually to the exclusion of others.
• noun Specifically— A letter of indulgence; an indulgence; a pardon.
• noun The grant by a government to the author of a new and useful invention, or to his assigns, of the exclusive right of exploiting that invention for a specified term of years; also, the instrument or letters by which a grant of land is made by a government to a person or corporation.
• noun An invention; a thing invented: as, the machine is a new patent.
• noun A region or tract of land granted by letters patent; a concession.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document, issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or privilege on some person or party.
• noun A writing securing to an invention.
• noun A document making a grant and conveyance of public lands.
• noun The right or privilege conferred by such a document; hence, figuratively, a right, privilege, or license of the nature of a patent.
• adjective Open; expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest; public; conspicuous.
• adjective Open to public perusal; -- said of a document conferring some right or privilege. See Letters patent, under 3d Letter.
• adjective Appropriated or protected by letters patent; secured by official authority to the exclusive possession, control, and disposal of some person or party; patented
• adjective (Bot.) Spreading; forming a nearly right angle with the steam or branch.
• adjective a varnished or lacquered leather, used for boots and shoes, and in carriage and harness work.
• adjective a government bureau for the examination of inventions and the granting of patents.
• adjective (Law) The right, granted by the sovereign, of exclusive control of some business of manufacture, or of the sale of certain articles, or of certain offices or prerogatives.
• adjective the registers, or records, of patents.
• transitive verb To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to secure or protect by patent

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A declaration issued by a government agency declaring someone the inventor of a new invention and having the privilege of stopping others from making, using or selling the claimed invention; a letter patent.