devise en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /dɪˈvaɪz/
- (US) audio
Etymology
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English devisen, devysen, from Old French deviser, from Vulgar Latin devisō, from Latin dīvisō, frequentative of dīvidō.
Meanings
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(transitive) To use one’s intellect to plan or design (something).
Thus, the task of the linguist devising a grammar which models the linguistic competence of the fluent native speaker is to devise a finite set of rules which are capable of specifying how to form, interpret, and pronounce an infinite set of well-formed sentences.
1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar, Cambridge: University Press, →ISBN, page 23:devising schemes to realize his ambitious views
1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:His fiery eies are fixt vpon the earth. As if he now deuiſ’d some Stratageme: Or meant to pierce Auernus darkſome vauts. To pull the triple headed dog from hell.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:Near-synonyms: lay, set, design, plan, create
to devise an argument; to devise a machine, or a new system of writing
Therefore to make complaynt Of such mysadvysed Parsons and dysgysed, Thys boke we have devysed, […]
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 20–23:Thailand goes to the polls on Sunday under a new system that critics say the military government has devised to prevent the most popular political party, which has won every election since 2001, from returning to power.
2019 March 21, Setboonsarg, Chayut; Johnson, Kay, “Numbers game: How Thailand's election system favors pro-army parties”, in Robert Birsel, editor, Reuters, Reuters, retrieved 23 Mar 2019:
- (transitive) To leave (property) in a will.
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(archaic, intransitive) To form a scheme; to lay a plan; to contrive; to consider.
I thought, devised, and Pallas heard my prayer.
1725, Homer, “Book IX”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
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(archaic, transitive) To plan or scheme for; to plot to obtain.
For wisedome is most riches; fooles therefore / They are, which fortunes doe by vowes deuize,
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 30:
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(obsolete) To imagine; to guess.
I do protest I neuer iniur’d thee, But lou’d thee better then thou can’st deuise: Till thou shalt know the reason of my loue.
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| devises | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| devised | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| devised | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| devising | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Deriveds
redevise · devisal · devisable · give, devise, and bequeath · devisee
Synonyms
lay · plan · create · set · design
Translations (97)
nl bedenken (use the intellect to plan or design) · fi suunnitella (use the intellect to plan or design) · mi whakangārahu (use the intellect to plan or design) · pt tramar (use the intellect to plan or design) · fi kehitellä (use the intellect to plan or design) · bg тъкмя (to scheme, to plot) · ru замышля́ть (use the intellect to plan or design) · it congegnare (use the intellect to plan or design) · ro urzi (use the intellect to plan or design) · cs navrhnout (use the intellect to plan or design) · sk zanechať (leave in a will) · it inventare (use the intellect to plan or design) · da opfinde (use the intellect to plan or design) · ru задумать (use the intellect to plan or design) · pt idear (use the intellect to plan or design) · fr élaborer (use the intellect to plan or design) · oc concebre (use the intellect to plan or design) · es tramar (to scheme, to plot) · es devisar (to scheme, to plot) · ru разраба́тывать (use the intellect to plan or design) · ko 고안하다 (use the intellect to plan or design) · cs vymyslet (use the intellect to plan or design) · vi đề ra (use the intellect to plan or design) · bg завещавам (leave in a will) · sv tänka ut (use the intellect to plan or design) · ca copçar (use the intellect to plan or design) · vo datikön (use the intellect to plan or design) · ru замы́слить (use the intellect to plan or design) · es urdir (to scheme, to plot) · ca divisar (use the intellect to plan or design) · es legar (leave in a will) · oc fargar (use the intellect to plan or design) · oc imaginar (use the intellect to plan or design) · pt deixar (leave in a will) · de durch Testament verfügen (leave in a will) · gl idear (use the intellect to plan or design) · kw devisya (to scheme, to plot) · pt legar (leave in a will) · fr concevoir (use the intellect to plan or design) · da finde på (use the intellect to plan or design) · es discursar (use the intellect to plan or design) · sq krijoj (use the intellect to plan or design) · fi keksiä (use the intellect to plan or design) · nl ontwerpen (use the intellect to plan or design) · he הוריש (leave in a will) · bg кроя (to scheme, to plot) · de planen (use the intellect to plan or design) · ota پرگارلامق (use the intellect to plan or design) · sv hitta på (use the intellect to plan or design) · it escogitare (use the intellect to plan or design) · ang āhyċġan (use the intellect to plan or design) · da udarbejde (use the intellect to plan or design) · cs vynalézt (use the intellect to plan or design) · ru разрабо́тать (use the intellect to plan or design) · de erdenken (use the intellect to plan or design) · kw devisya (use the intellect to plan or design) · nl vermaken (leave in a will) · fi kekata (use the intellect to plan or design) · fi testamentata (leave in a will) · ru завеща́ть (leave in a will) · de letztwillig vermachen (leave in a will) · fi junailla (use the intellect to plan or design) · vi vạch ra (use the intellect to plan or design) · sq thur (to scheme, to plot) · pt inventar (use the intellect to plan or design) · pt projetar (use the intellect to plan or design) · es ingeniar (use the intellect to plan or design) · es elucubrar (use the intellect to plan or design) · it pianificare (to scheme, to plot) · sk vyšpekulovať (use the intellect to plan or design) · oc inventar (use the intellect to plan or design) · es idear (use the intellect to plan or design) · pt delinear (use the intellect to plan or design) · el επινοώ (use the intellect to plan or design) · da udtænke (use the intellect to plan or design) · mi whakangārahu (to scheme, to plot) · cs vymyslet (to scheme, to plot) · tr tasarlamak (use the intellect to plan or design) · sk vymyslieť (use the intellect to plan or design) · sk odkázať (leave in a will) · de entwerfen (use the intellect to plan or design) · tr miras bırakmak (leave in a will) · bg измислям (use the intellect to plan or design) · eo elpensi (use the intellect to plan or design) · es discurrir (use the intellect to plan or design) · fi masinoida (use the intellect to plan or design) · sk poručiť (leave in a will) · cs odkázat (leave in a will) · sq sajoj thur (use the intellect to plan or design) · ca preveure (use the intellect to plan or design) · bg изобретявам (use the intellect to plan or design) · ga cum (use the intellect to plan or design) · it architettare (use the intellect to plan or design) · sv uppfinna (use the intellect to plan or design) · da testamentere (leave in a will) · la nectō (use the intellect to plan or design) · de ausdenken (use the intellect to plan or design)