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There’s something inventive about devise, a word that stems from Latin dividere, meaning “to divide.” By the time devise was being used in English, its Anglo-French forebear deviser had accumulated an array of senses, including “divide,” “distribute,” “arrange,” “order,” “plan,” “invent,” and “assign by will.” English adopted some of these and added new senses, such as “imagine” and “guess,” that have fallen out of use over time. Today devise is most commonly used as a synonym of invent or plot in situations where the objective is difficult or complicated. Note that devise is often confused with another dividere (and deviser) descendent: device refers to a technique, method, tool, or small machine or gadget. One way to help keep their spellings straight is to remember that ice, usually a noun, is found at the end of the noun device, not the verb devise.
Examples of devise in a Sentence
Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 17 July 2025
Participants identify challenges in their communities and devise local, innovative solutions to address them.
—Cynthia Tully, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
During the Second World War and the decades after, the American armed forces devised technologies far more advanced than anything made in the private sector.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
Then, in 2023, Cook’s son James and a researcher named Ian Mertz blew it wide open, devising an algorithm that solved the tree evaluation problem using much less space than anyone thought possible.
—Ben Brubaker, Wired News, 13 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for devise
Cite this Entry
“Devise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devise. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
devise
2 of 2 nounNote: Formerly devise was used to refer only to gifts of real property, and legacy and bequest were used only to refer to gifts of personal property. These distinctions are no longer closely followed. The Uniform Probate Code uses devise to refer to any gifts made in a will.
Note: Executory devises were invented as a way of getting around the rule in Shelley's case, which is now largely abolished.
Transitive verb
Anglo-French deviser to divide, share, bequeath, ultimately from Latin dividere to divide
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