verb (used without object), in·no·vat·ed, in·no·vat·ing.
- to introduce something new; make changes in anything established.
verb (used with object), in·no·vat·ed, in·no·vat·ing.
- to introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time: to innovate a computer operating system.
- Archaic. to alter.
verb
- to invent or begin to apply (methods, ideas, etc)
1540s, “introduce as new,” from Latin innovatus, past participle of innovare “to renew, restore; to change,” from in- “into” (see in- (2)) + novus “new” (see new). Meaning “make changes in something established” is from 1590s. Related: Innovated; innovating.