devise

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a will disposing of real property
noun (law) a gift of real property by will
verb come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English devisen, devysen, from Old French deviser, from Vulgar Latin devisō, from Latin dīvisō, frequentative of dīvidō.

He has devised a complete explanation. — War and Peace, Leo, graf Tolstoy
Yclothëd was she fresh for to devise. — From Chaucer to Tennyson: With Twenty-Nine Portraits and Selections from Thirty Authors, Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers
His property the poet could and did devise. — Shakespeare's family, C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael) Stopes

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