invite

See also: invité

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French inviter, from Latin invītō. Displaced native Old English laþian.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭnvīt', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvaɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt

Verb

invite (third-person singular simple present invites, present participle inviting, simple past and past participle invited)

1. (transitive) To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.

   Synonyms: ask out, ask

   We invited our friends round for dinner.

2. (transitive) To request formally.

   Synonyms: ask, beseech, entreat, request

   I invite you all to be seated.

3. (transitive) To encourage.

   Synonyms: ask for, encourage, provoke

   I always invite criticism of my definitions.

   Wearing that skimpy dress, you are bound to invite attention.

   • 1902, Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's Second State of the Union Address:

     The refusal to maintain such a navy would invite trouble, and if trouble came would insure disaster.

4. (transitive) To allure; to draw to; to tempt to come; to induce by pleasure or hope; to attract.
   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     to inveigle and invite th' unwary sense

   • 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     shady groves, that easy sleep invite

   • 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error:

     There no delusive hope invites despair.

Synonyms

• lathe

Derived terms

• disinvite
• e-invite
• e-vite
• invitable
• invited to the cookout
• invitement
• invitro
• reinvite
• uninvite

Related terms

• invitee
• inviter

Translations

ask for the presence or participation of someone

Afrikaans: uitnooi (af) Albanian: ftoj (sq) Ambonese Malay: not American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp Arabic: دَعَا (ar) (daʕā), عَزَمَ (ʕazama) Egyptian Arabic: عزم (ʕazam) Hijazi Arabic: عَزَم (ʕazam) South Levantine Arabic: عَزَم (ʕazam) Armenian: հրավիրել (hy) (hravirel) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܙܲܡܸܢ (mzammin), ܟ̰ܵܐܹܕ݂ (čāˀēḏ) Asturian: invitar, convidar Azerbaijani: çağırmaq (az), dəvət etmək (az) Basque: gonbidatu Belarusian: запраша́ць impf (zaprašácʹ), запрасі́ць pf (zaprasícʹ) Bengali: আমন্ত্রণ করা (amontron kora) Bikol Central: agda (bcl) Bulgarian: ка́ня (bg) impf (kánja), пока́нвам (bg) pf (pokánvam) Burmese: ဖိတ် (my) (hpit), ပင့် (my) (pang.) Catalan: invitar (ca), convidar (ca) Cherokee: ᎠᏯᏂᎭ (ayaniha) Chinese: Mandarin: 邀請 / 邀请 (zh) (yāoqǐng), 請 / 请 (zh) (qǐng), 約請 / 约请 (zh) (yuēqǐng) Crimean Tatar: çağırmaq, davet etmek Czech: zvát (cs) impf, pozvat (cs) pf Danish: invitere, indbyde Dutch: uitnodigen (nl), nodigen (nl), (formal) inviteren (nl), (archaic) laden (nl) Erzya: сергелемс (sergelems) Esperanto: inviti (eo) Estonian: kutsuma Finnish: kutsua (fi) French: inviter (fr), convier (fr) Friulian: invidâ, convidâ Galician: convidar Georgian: მოწვევა (moc̣veva), პატიჟებს (ṗaṭižebs), დაპატიჟებს (daṗaṭižebs) German: einladen (de) Middle High German: īnladen Old High German: inladōn Gothic: 𐌰𐍄𐌻𐌰𐌸𐍉𐌽 (atlaþōn) Greek: προσκαλώ (el) (proskaló) Ancient: προσκαλέω (proskaléō) Hawaiian: kono Hebrew: הִזְמִין (hizmín) Hiligaynon: agda Hindi: आमंत्रित करना (āmantrit karnā) Hungarian: meghív (hu) Icelandic: bjóða (is) Indonesian: mengundang (id) Italian: invitare (it) Japanese: 誘う (ja) (さそう, sasou), 招待する (ja) (しょうたいする, shōtai suru), 招く (ja) (まねく, maneku), 請う (ja) (こう, kou) Kaitag: бурса́ра (bursára) Kapampangan: agkatan Kazakh: шақыру (şaqyru) Khmer: អញ្ជើញ (km) (ʼɑñcəəñ) Korean: 초대하다 (ko) (chodaehada) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: vexwendin (ku) Kyrgyz: чакыруу (ky) (cakıruu) Lao: ເຊີນ (sœ̄n) Latin: adhibeō (la), invītō, convītō Latvian: aicināt (lv), lūgt (lv) Lezgi: теклиф авун (teklif avun) Lithuanian: pakviesti (lt) Livonian: kutsõ, nuttõ Luxembourgish: invitéieren, alueden Macedonian: ка́ни impf (káni), по́кани pf (pókani) Malay: ajak (ms), menjemput Maori: pōwhiri Moksha: сергядькшнемс (sergäďkšnems) Mongolian: урих (mn) (urix) Ngazidja Comorian: ulalika Norwegian: Bokmål: invitere (no), innby Occitan: invitar (oc), convidar (oc) Old English: laðian Oromo: affeeruu Ossetian: хонын (xonyn) Ottoman Turkish: دعوت ایتمك (daʼvet etmek), چاغرمق (çağırmak), اوقومق (okumak) Pashto: بلل (ps) (baləl) Persian: فراخواندن (fa) (farâxvândan), دعوت کردن (fa) (da'vat kardan) Polish: zapraszać (pl) impf, zaprosić (pl) pf Portuguese: convidar (pt) Quechua: aypuriy Romanian: a invita (ro) Romansch: envidar, anvidar, invidar, invider Russian: приглаша́ть (ru) impf (priglašátʹ), пригласи́ть (ru) pf (priglasítʹ), звать (ru) impf (zvatʹ), позва́ть (ru) pf (pozvátʹ) Sardinian: combidare, cumbidai, cumbidare, cumbitare Scottish Gaelic: iarr Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: звати impf, позвати pf Roman: zvati (sh) impf, pozvati (sh) pf Sicilian: mmitari Slovak: zvať impf, pozvať pf Slovene: vabiti impf, povabiti pf Spanish: invitar (es), convidar (es) Swedish: invitera (sv), inbjuda (sv) Tajik: даъват кардан (da'vat kardan), ҷеғ задан (jeġ zadan) Tamil: அழை (ta) (aḻai), கூப்பிடு (ta) (kūppiṭu) Tatar: чакырырга (tt) (çaqırırğa) Telugu: ఆహ్వానించు (te) (āhvāniñcu) Thai: เชิญ (th) (chəən) Tocharian B: kwa- Turkish: davet etmek (tr), çağırmak (tr) Turkmen: çagarmak, çagyrmak Ukrainian: запро́шувати impf (zapróšuvaty), запроси́ти pf (zaprosýty) Uyghur: تەكلىپ قىلماق (teklip qilmaq) Uzbek: taklif qilmoq Venetan: invitar, invidar Vietnamese: mời (vi) Welsh: gwahodd (cy) Yakut: ынырар (ïnïrar) Yiddish: אײַנלאַדן (aynladn)

request formally

Catalan: invitar (ca), convidar (ca) Finnish: kutsua (fi), esittää kutsu Greek: παρακαλώ (el) (parakaló) Icelandic: bjóða (is) Ottoman Turkish: دعوت ایتمك (daʼvet etmek), چاغرمق (çağırmak), اوقومق (okumak) Pashto: بلل (ps) (baləl) Persian: خواهش کردن (fa) (xvâheš kardan) Polish: prosić (pl) impf Portuguese: convidar (pt) Russian: проси́ть (ru) impf (prosítʹ), попроси́ть (ru) pf (poprosítʹ) Spanish: solicitar (es), invitar (es) Telugu: ఆహ్వానించు (te) (āhvāniñcu) Turkish: davet etmek (tr)

encourage — see encourage

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Latin: (please verify) invitō Woiwurrung: (please verify) toomba-din-juno

Etymology 2

From the verb invite.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭn'vīt, IPA^(key): /ˈɪnvaɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

invite (plural invites)

1. (informal) An invitation.
   • 2022 June 29, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Strikes set to escalate as RMT issues rallying call”, in RAIL, number 960, page 6:

     An open invite has been given to all UK workers to join in common cause with the union, as more than 40,000 RMT members at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies walked out on June 21 in the first of three 24-hour strikes over pay, conditions and job security.

Translations

(informal) invitation

Ambonese Malay: not Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܙܘܼܡܵܢܵܐ m (zummānā), ܟ̰ܝܵܕ݂ܵܐ m (čyāḏā) Bulgarian: пока́на (bg) f (pokána) Catalan: invitació (ca) French: invitation (fr) f German: Einladung (de) f Greek: πρόσκληση (el) f (prósklisi) Hebrew: הַזְמָנָה f (hazmaná) Icelandic: boð (is) n Italian: invito (it) m Portuguese: convite (pt) m Russian: приглаше́ние (ru) n (priglašénije) Spanish: invitación (es) f

Asturian

Verb

invite

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of invitar

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Verb

invite

1. inflection of inviter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Adjective

invīte

1. vocative masculine singular of invītus

References

• “invite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “invite”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “invite”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [inˈvite]

Verb

invite

1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of invita

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈbite/ [ĩmˈbi.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ite
• Syllabification: in‧vi‧te

Etymology 1

Deverbal from invitar.

Noun

invite m (plural invites)

1. (Mexico) invite, invitation

Etymology 2

Verb

invite

1. inflection of invitar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “invite”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025