Similar words
ersinnen
Erfinden is the everyday word for "to invent"; ersinnen is more literary, "to devise" or dream up something clever.
Similar in other languages
French
inventer
inventer is the French word for the same thing — both mean "to invent."
Portuguese
inventar
inventar is the Portuguese word for the same thing — both mean "to invent."
Practice
1 What does erfinden mean?
to invent
2 Fill the gap: Wer hat das Telefon ___?
Full sentence: Wer hat das Telefon erfunden? (Who invented the telephone?)
3 Which fingerprint chart matches erfinden?
erfinden: neutral register, common frequency, general domain, neutral connotation.