What does innovate mean?
Word: Innovate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Innovate means to bring in new ideas or better ways of doing something.
Word origin: From Latin innovare.
How do you spell innovate?
Syllables: in - no - vate
Tricky part: The double n is the trap: only one is heard, so students drop the other.
Watch out for: inovate, innovatte
Memory tip: People with fresh ideas think about what is new and what is next: give the word one n for new and one for next.
Innovate in a sentence
Example 1: To stay ahead, companies must innovate every year.
Example 2: Farmers in our district now innovate by using drones to spray their fields.
Example 3: Our teacher encourages us to innovate rather than copy the model in the textbook.
Fun Fact
In Tudor England, to innovate was often a criticism: changing settled ways was seen as risky, not clever.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Probe
Put 'o' and 'a' in the gaps, in that order. Which option gives the meaning of the word you make?
1. inn_v_te 2. inc_b_te 3. irr_g_te 4. ind_c_te
a) to bring water to crops by channels
b) to find fresh ways of doing a job
c) to keep eggs warm until they hatch
d) to point to or show something
Show answer
b) to find fresh ways of doing a job. Incubate takes u, while indicate and irrigate take i, before the a.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ate' pronounced differently?
a) rotate
b) private
c) debate
d) innovate
Show answer
b) private. Private closes on a soft, quick sound; the others say the name of the letter a.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) illustrate : illustrator
b) navigate : navigator
c) educate : educator
d) innovate : innovater
Show answer
d) innovate : innovater. Verbs of this kind name the person with or, as educator and navigator show.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with words of similar meaning:
1. innovate 2. hesitate 3. deteriorate a. pause b. worsen c. pioneer
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
Show answer
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. To pioneer is to do something for the first time, to hesitate is to pause, and to deteriorate is to get worse.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A school that decides to innovate is most likely to ___.
a) try a new way of teaching maths
b) repeat the same test papers
c) reprint the same old notes
d) keep last year's timetable
Show answer
a) try a new way of teaching maths
2. Which remark would you expect from someone keen to innovate?
a) We have always done it this way.
b) The old method is good enough.
c) Let us wait for someone else.
d) What if we tried it differently?
Show answer
d) What if we tried it differently?
