innovation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of introducing something new.
• noun Something newly introduced.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of innovating; the introduction of new things or methods.
• noun A novel change in practice or method; something new introduced into established arrangements of any kind; an unwonted or experimental variation.
• noun In Scots law, the exchange, with the creditor's consent, of one obligation for another, so as to make the second obligation come in the place of the first, and be the only subsisting obligation against the debtor, both the original obligants remaining the same. Also called novation.
• noun In botany, a newly formed shoot or extension of the stem: used especially with reference to the mosses, in which the new shoot becomes independent by the dying off behind of the parent axis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of innovating; introduction of something new, in customs, rites, commercial products, etc.
• noun A change effected by innovating; a change in customs; something new, and contrary to established customs, manners, or rites.
• noun (Bot.) A newly formed shoot, or the annually produced addition to the stems of many mosses.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of innovating; the introduction of something new, in customs, rites, etc.
• noun A change effected by innovating; a change in customs; something new, and contrary to established customs, manners, or rites.
• noun A newly formed shoot, or the annually produced addition to the stems of many mosses.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a creation (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation
• noun the creation of something in the mind
• noun the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new