device
pronunciation
How to pronounce device in British English:
UK [dɪˈvaɪs]
How to pronounce device in American English:
US [dɪˈvaɪs]
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- Noun:
- an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose
- something in an artistic work designed to achieve a particular effect
- any clever (deceptive) maneuver
- any ornamental pattern or design (as in embroidery)
- an emblematic design (especially in heraldry)
Word Origin
- device
- device: [13] A device is something which has been devised – which, etymologically speaking, amounts to ‘something which has been divided’. For ultimately devise and divide come from the same source. The noun device comes in the first instance from Old French devis ‘division, contrivance’ and latterly (in the 15th century) from Old French devise ‘plan’, both of which were derivatives of the verb deviser ‘divide, devise’ (source of English devise [13]).This in turn came from Vulgar Latin *dīvisāre, a verb based on the past participial stem of Latin dīvidere, source of English divide. The semantic development by which ‘divide’ passed to ‘contrive’, presumably based on the notion that dividing something up and distributing it needs some planning, happened before the word reached English, and English device has never meant ‘division’.The sense ‘simple machine’ essentially evolved in the 16th century.=> devise, divide, individual, widow
- device (n.)
- late 13c., from Old French devis "division, separation, disposition, wish, desire; coat of arms, emblem; last will," from deviser "to divide, distribute" (see devise). Sense of "method by which something is divided" arose in French and led to modern meaning.
Example
- 1. This update is for all ios device .
- 2. The crosspoint is a device operated by electric magnets .
- 3. And the device is another thing to lose or break .
- 4. Sheer ordinariness as a political cachet is not a novel device .
- 5. Apple faces pressure for the device to be a hit .