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

Explanation

To devise is to figure out a plan. Men twirling long mustaches might devise a plan to tie someone to the railroad tracks. To devise a plan is more than just making one; there's a lot of figuring out to do, such as: "Phoebe devised a bus route that picked up kids in alphabetical order." There's a method to the madness of devising. The chemistry class devised a plan to make the fire alarm go off. Devise can be positive, too, meaning to find a creative solution: "The design team devised a plan to make the trailer home look like a medieval castle."

Example Sentences

What if they devise a not-entirely unfraudulent workaround?

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

But the question of how we get there means everything, and all this straight-line script can devise in terms of motivation is to have characters give up creating fake drama.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

Elevating one internal candidate also could spark an exodus by the others, putting pressure on the board to devise ways to retain Disney’s accomplished runners-up.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2026

If the offense is to generate more points, he needs to devise a new scheme.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2026

I had to devise a training program for Richard Parker.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

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