patent – English adjective declension

English adjective forms of patent

Adjective: patent

Comparison Forms

Synthetic

Perifrastic

Comparativemore patent
Superlativemost patent

Sample Sentences

  • At the departure of Philip he had received instructions, both patent and secret, for his guidance as stadholder of Holland, Friesland, and Utrecht. [1856, John Lothrop Motley, “Sowing the Wind”, in The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, part II (Administration of the Duchess Margaret. 1559–1567.), page 240:]
  • She has a patent ductus arteriosus that will require surgery to close.
  • Those claims are patent nonsense.
  • Again we read at page 174: “Instead of the Universal Roman Catholic Church there existed after 1650 the National Catholic Churches of Spain, France, Austria, Poland, etc. more subject to the Royal supremacy than to the Papal, not, however, so completely as in England.” This is obviously an exaggeration. There never existed in the countries mentioned, least of all in Spain, any National Catholic Church. There would not have existed any such contradictorially-named organization even in England had it not been for the lechery of Henry VIII. Other similar misstatements might be noticed here and there. The author's intention, however, to be just is patent and his success in this respect is noteworthy. [1916 March, “The Reconciliation of Government with Liberty. By John W[illiam] Burgess, Ph.D., Ju.D., LL.D. Scribner & Sons, New York. 1915. Pp. 410. [book review]”, in The Ecclesiastical Review: A Monthly Publication for the Clergy, volume IV (6th Series; volume LIV overall), number 3, Philadelphia, Pa.: American Ecclesiastical Review; The Dolphin Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 373–374:]
  • letters patent
  • [H]e did at last think of an office which do belong to him in case the King do restore every man to his places that ever had been patent, which is to be one of the clerks of the signet, which will be a fine employment for one of his sons. [1660 May 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 4th, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC, page 129:]
  • a patent right    patent medicines
  • Madder is eſteemed a very rich Commodity, and what will turn to good profit; ſo that in King Charles I's Time it was made a Patent Commodity. [1708, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Madder”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC, book V, page 125:]
  • [H]e took up an old newspaper; / The paper was right easy to peruse; / He read an article the king attacking, / And a long eulogy of "Patent Blacking." [1824 March 26, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XV. and XVI., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and H[enry] L[eigh] Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto XVI, stanza XXVI, page 74:]
  • "Yes, I have a pair of eyes," replied Sam, "and that's just it. If they wos a pair o' patent double million magnifyin' gas microscopes of hextra power, p'raps I might be able to see through a flight o' stairs and a deal door; but bein' only eyes you see, my wision's limited." [1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Is Wholly Devoted to a Full and Faithful Report of the Memorable Trial of Bardell against Pickwick”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 368:]
  • There, were also a small mouse-trap; a patent corkscrew, too good to be used in common; fragments of a silver tea-spoon, that had, by natural decay, arrived at a dissolution of its parts; […] [1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter III, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book second, page 103:]
  • ["]Ben, my fine fellow, put your hand into the cupboard, and bring out the patent digester." Mr. Benjamin Allen smiled his readiness, and produced from the closet at his elbow a black bottle half full of brandy. [1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How Mr. Winkle, when He Stepped Out of the Frying-pan, Walked Gently and Comfortably into the Fire”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 405:]

Etymology

From Middle English patent, patente (“wide open; clear, unobstructed; unlimited; of a document: available for public inspection”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman and Middle French patent (modern French patent), and directly from their etymon Latin patēns (“open; accessible, passable; evident, manifest; exposed, vulnerable”), the present active participle of pateō (“to be open; to be accessible, attainable; to be exposed, vulnerable; of frontiers or land: to extent, increase”), from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”). See: French Adjectives 'patent', Latin Adjectives 'patēns'.