in·ven·tion 
(ĭn-vĕnshən)
(ĭn-vĕnshən)n.
1. The act or process of inventing: used a technique of her own invention.
2. A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation: the phonograph, an invention attributed to Thomas Edison.
3. A mental fabrication, especially a falsehood.
4. Skill in inventing; inventiveness: "the invention and sweep of the staging" (John Simon).
5. Music A short composition developing a single theme contrapuntally.
6. A discovery; a finding.
[Middle English invencioun, scheme, plan, from Old French invencion, a finding out, from Latin inventiō, inventiōn-, inventiveness, from inventus, past participle of invenīre, to find; see INVENT.]
in·vention·al adj.