design
[dih-zahyn]
- to prepare the preliminary sketch or the plans for (a work to be executed), especially to plan the form and structure of: to design a new bridge.
- to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.
- to intend for a definite purpose: a scholarship designed for foreign students.
- to form or conceive in the mind; contrive; plan: The prisoner designed an intricate escape.
- to assign in thought or intention; purpose: He designed to be a doctor.
- Obsolete. to mark out, as by a sign; indicate.
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- to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans.
- to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of art, decorative scheme, etc.
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- an outline, sketch, or plan, as of the form and structure of a work of art, an edifice, or a machine to be executed or constructed.
- organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.
- the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern or motif of artistic work: the design on a bracelet.
- the art of designing: a school of design.
- a plan or project: a design for a new process.
- a plot or intrigue, especially an underhand, deceitful, or treacherous one: His political rivals formulated a design to unseat him.
- designs, a hostile or aggressive project or scheme having evil or selfish motives: He had designs on his partner's stock.
- intention; purpose; end.
- adaptation of means to a preconceived end.
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Origin of design
Synonym study
designed
[dih-zahynd]
- made or done intentionally; intended; planned.
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Origin of designed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
premeditatedcarefulconsciouspurposefulcalculatedstudiouscold-bloodedthoughtfulcautiouswillfulprudentmeticulousdoomedcomingintendeddesignedstudiedconsideredexpresspredetermineddesign
- to work out the structure or form of (something), as by making a sketch, outline, pattern, or plans
- to plan and make (something) artistically or skilfully
- (tr) to form or conceive in the mind; invent
- (tr) to intend, as for a specific purpose; plan
- (tr) obsolete to mark out or designate
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- a plan, sketch, or preliminary drawing
- the arrangement or pattern of elements or features of an artistic or decorative workthe design of the desk is Chippendale
- a finished artistic or decorative creation
- the art of designing
- a plan, scheme, or project
- an end aimed at or planned for; intention; purpose
- (often plural; often foll by on or against) a plot or hostile scheme, often to gain possession of (something) by illegitimate means
- a coherent or purposeful pattern, as opposed to chaosGod's design appears in nature
- argument from design philosophy another name for teleological argument
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin dēsignāre to mark out, describe, from de- + signāre to mark, from signum a mark, sign
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for predesigned
design
n.
1580s, from Middle French desseign "purpose, project, design," from Italian disegno, from disegnare "to mark out," from Latin designare "to mark out" (see design (v.)).
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design
v.
1540s, from Latin designare "mark out, devise, choose, designate, appoint," from de- "out" (see de-) + signare "to mark," from signum "a mark, sign" (see sign (n.)). Originally in English with the meaning now attached to designate; many modern uses of design are metaphoric extensions. Related: Designed; designing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with predesigned
design
see by design; have designs on.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.