Definitions

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

  • transitive verb To ask for the presence or participation of.
  • transitive verb To request formally.
  • transitive verb To welcome; encourage.
  • transitive verb To tend to bring on; provoke.
  • transitive verb To entice; tempt.
  • noun An invitation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An invitation.
  • To solicit to come, attend, or do something; request the presence, company, or action of; summon because of desire, favor, or courtesy: as, to invite a friend to dinner; to invite one to dance.
  • To present allurement or incitement to; draw on or induce by temptation; solicit; incite.
  • Synonyms Convoke, Bid, etc. See call.
  • To offer invitation or enticement; attract.

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

  • intransitive verb To give invitation.
  • transitive verb 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 or visit; to request the company of.
  • transitive verb To allure; to draw to; to tempt to come; to induce by pleasure or hope; to attract.
  • transitive verb To give occasion for.

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

  • verb transitive To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.
  • verb transitive To request formally.
  • verb transitive To encourage.
  • noun informal An invitation.

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

  • verb increase the likelihood of
  • verb request the participation or presence of
  • verb ask someone in a friendly way to do something
  • noun a colloquial expression for invitation
  • verb invite someone to one's house
  • verb give rise to a desire by being attractive or inviting
  • verb express willingness to have in one's home or environs
  • verb ask to enter
  • verb have as a guest

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French inviter, from Old French, from Latin invītāre; see weiə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ultimately from Latin invītō.

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