inventare
invent
verb een-vehn-TAH-reh Less Common
Origin: from Latin 'invenire', to come upon
Also means
make up
Usage Note
Inventare covers both creating something new and fabricating a story; inventare una scusa means 'to make up an excuse'. The reflexive inventarsi adds a sense of improvising on the spot, as in si è inventato un lavoro. It takes avere in compound tenses.
Examples
"I bambini inventano storie fantastiche."
Natural Translation
Children invent fantastic stories.
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