[1885–90; co- + inventor]This word is first recorded in the period 1885–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: foregut, lineup, retread, scrum, sensitizationco- is a prefix meaning “with,” “together,” “in association,” sometimes with the derivedsense “auxiliary, subsidiary” (coenzyme; copilot), and, in mathematics and astronomy, with the sense “complement” (codeclination)