Showing results for "devised"

• past participle of devise.
• past tense form of devise.

devised

American  

[dih-vahyzd] / dɪˈvaɪzd /

adjective

1. contrived, planned, invented, or designed.

   It’s a dark comedy about a couple of guys who embark on a poorly devised scheme to blackmail a local clergyman.

2. Theater. (of a play) having a script produced collaboratively by the performers rather than by a writer or playwright.

   Previous works of the Holwell Youth Troupe include a chilling ghost story and a devised piece on the topic of love.

3. Law. (of property) assigned or transmitted by will.

   When specifically devised property is no longer in the testator's estate, the beneficiary's gift fails.

---

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of devise.

Other Word Forms

• self-devised
  adjective
• undevised
  adjective
• well-devised
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of devised

devise ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

devised

We’re all familiar with the most famous those: Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” a song Parton originally devised as a tribute to Porter Wagoner.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

To combat high dropout rates, the Foundation devised a buddy plan that incentivized children to stay in school by paying pairs of students $500 each if they graduated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Open Dialogue was first devised in the 1980s in Finland.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

"By contrast, a change of leadership at EssilorLuxottica would, in our view, be negative, as the group's strategy has been devised and implemented consistently by Milleri over the past few years," Equita said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

My mother and Mrs. Bircz had devised a strategy they hoped would protect us.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson