Innovation Meaning
/ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of innovating; the introduction of something new, in customs, rites, etc.
nounA change effected by innovating; a change in customs.
Sentence Examples
Technological innovation brought about the rapid progress of the information industry.
Thanks to the technological innovation, the maximum output of the factory has doubled.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new smartphone was a major ____ that changed the way people communicate.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new smartphone includes a major ____ that allows users to charge the battery using light energy.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French innovation, from Old French innovacion, from Late Latin innovatio, innovationem, from Latin innovo, innovatus. Morphologically innovate + -ion.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation. […] He said there would be "considerable danger" that without such an exception, the granting of patent would "tie up" the use of such tools and future innovation based on them."
— 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2018, page 10:
"Innovation is more than a new method. It is a new view of the universe, as one of risk rather than of chance or of certainty. It is a new view of man's role in the universe; he creates order by taking risks. And this means that innovation, rather than being an assertion of human power, is an acceptance of human responsibility."
— 1954, Peter Drucker, The Landmarks of Tomorrow:
"The others, whose time had been more actively employed, began to shew symptoms of innovation,—"the good wine did its good office." The frost of etiquette, and pride of birth, began to give way before the genial blessings of this benign constellation, and the formal appellatives with which the three dignitaries had hitherto addressed each other, were now familiarly abbreviated into Tully, Bally, and Killie."
— 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
"One of the remarkable innovations in concrete technology is the development of self-healing cementitious materials through the incorporation of bacterial agents."
— 2024 October 10, Tiana Milović et al., “Enhancing Compressive Strength of Cement by Indigenous Individual and Co-Culture Bacillus Bacteria”, in Materials, volume 17, number 20, →DOI, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2025:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new smartphone was a major ____ that changed the way people communicate.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new smartphone includes a major ____ that allows users to charge the battery using light energy.