patent
An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent.
Other meanings
A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained.
A licence or (formal) permission to do something.
Example sentences
Word history
From Middle English "patent".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “patent” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.