devise
Americanverb (used with object)
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to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas.
to devise a method.
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Theater. to develop (a play) collaboratively with the performers.
Based on the lives of women in engineering, the students devised the play themselves.
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Law. to assign or transmit (property) by will.
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Archaic. to imagine; suppose.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to work out, contrive, or plan (something) in one's mind
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(tr) law to dispose of (property, esp real property) by will
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obsolete (tr) to imagine or guess
noun
Related Words
See prepare.
Other Word Forms
- deviser noun
- predevise verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of devise
First recorded in 1150–1200; (verb) Middle English devisen “to inspect, design, compose,” from Old French deviser, from unattested Vulgar Latin dēvīsāre, for unattested dīvīsāre, frequentative of Latin dīvidere “to divide” ( divide ); (noun) device
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
AllHere was best known for devising an automated system that could deliver messages to students and families that were individualized, but fell well short of what is commonly understood to be artificial intelligence.
From Los Angeles Times
Late in the eighteenth century, a German doctor, Franz Mesmer, had devised a system that cured illnesses by putting people into trances.
From Literature
Ozymandias, who previously worked in the local theater world, is focusing primarily on the Witch’s Cottage at the moment, helping to devise recipes and ensure the bakery can accommodate as many dietary restrictions as possible.
From Los Angeles Times
However, some Gulf Coast shippers have devised a nifty Jones Act work-around that involves a circuitous route through the Bahamas.
The equal time rules were devised at a time when consumers had a limited number of media options.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
