devise

American  

[dih-vahyz] / dɪˈvaɪz /

verb (used with object)

devised, devising

1. to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas.

   to devise a method.

2. Theater. to develop (a play) collaboratively with the performers.

   Based on the lives of women in engineering, the students devised the play themselves.

3. Law. to assign or transmit (property) by will.

4. Archaic. to imagine; suppose.

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verb (used without object)

devised, devising

1. to form a plan; contrive.

noun

1. Law.

   1. the act of disposing of property, especially real property, by will.

   2. a will or clause in a will disposing of property, especially real property.

   3. the property so disposed of.

devise British  

/ dɪˈvaɪz /

verb

1. to work out, contrive, or plan (something) in one's mind

2. (tr) law to dispose of (property, esp real property) by will

3. obsolete (tr) to imagine or guess

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noun

1. 1. a disposition of property by will

   2. the property so transmitted Compare bequeath

2. a will or clause in a will disposing of real property Compare bequest

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

Meanwhile, policy uncertainty remains unusually high, according to an index based on news articles devised by three academics.

From The Wall Street Journal

Over subsequent years, working mainly through the CSJ, the think tank he founded, Duncan Smith devised a system that he believed would not just simplify the benefits system but, crucially, make work pay.

From BBC

So the market may get a fourth competitor—though not the one regulators had devised.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI horsepower is too expensive and precious to spin its wheels on meaningless or poorly devised tasks.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz devised an unsuccessful scheme to turn Aristotle’s system of logic into arithmetic.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• arrange
• come up with
• concoct
• construct
• craft
• create
• design
• discover
• forge
• formulate
• hatch
• invent
• mastermind
• prepare
• work out