invite

invite
invite noun (with the stress on the first syllable).
This is a good example of a word that has been in more or less continuous use since the 17c but has not attained the acceptability afforded to its rival, invitation. Dr Johnson must have known it but did not include it in his Dictionary (1755), nor did Charles Richardson in 1863. It was admitted with a ‘colloquial’ label to the OED (1901) and its failure to gain respectability was noted by Fowler (1926), who commented that ‘it is less recognized as an English word than bike’. Seventy years on, things have hardly changed, and the general consensus seems to be that as a noun invite belongs to the informal or even comic realms of language use:

• The four detectives didn't await an invite into the house —G. F. Newman, 1970

• He scoffs, indicating the dodgier invites entreating his attendance at this or that launch —Sunday Express Magazine, 1987

• He knows a particularly good printer who did the invites for his cousin's wedding —Precision Marketing, 1989

• We got an invite to Emerald's birthday party —K. Lighter, AmE 2004.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
, , , , , / , , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • invite — [ ɛ̃vit ] n. f. • 1767; de inviter 1 ♦ Jeux de cartes, vx Appel. 2 ♦ (fin XIX e) Invitation indirecte plus ou moins déguisée (à faire qqch.). « l invite à la riposte » (Courteline). « C était une invite à le laisser » (A. Gide). Une invite… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • invité — invite [ ɛ̃vit ] n. f. • 1767; de inviter 1 ♦ Jeux de cartes, vx Appel. 2 ♦ (fin XIX e) Invitation indirecte plus ou moins déguisée (à faire qqch.). « l invite à la riposte » (Courteline). « C était une invite à le laisser » (A. Gide). Une invite …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • invite — in‧vite [ɪnˈvaɪt] verb [transitive] 1. to offer someone the opportunity to do something: invite somebody to do something • Contractors will then be invited to tender for the work. • Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates. •… …   Financial and business terms

  • invite — invite, bid, solicit, court, woo are comparable when they mean to request or encourage a person or a thing to come to one or to fall in with one s plans or desires. Invite in its ordinary and usual sense implies a courteous request to go… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Invite — In*vite , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Invited}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Inviting}.] [L. invitare: cf. F. inviter. See {Vie}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To ask; to request; to bid; to summon; to ask to do some act, or go to some place; esp., to ask to an entertainment… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Invite — Жанры металкор электроника Годы 2005 наши дни Страна …   Википедия

  • invité — invité, ée (in vi té, tée) part. passé d inviter. Les personnes invitées au bal. •   Qu invité chez la reine, il ait soin de s y rendre, RAC. Esth. II, 7.    Substantivement. Quel est le nombre des invités ? …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • invite — [in vīt′; ] for n. [ in′vīt΄] vt. invited, inviting [Fr inviter < L invitare < in , IN 1 + ? IE base * wei , to go directly toward, chase after > L via & OE wæthan, to hunt] 1. to ask courteously to come somewhere or do something;… …   English World dictionary

  • Invite — In*vite , v. i. To give invitation. Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • invite — index call (appeal to), call (summon), motivate, offer (propose), proffer, request …   Law dictionary

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