Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Device

De·vice′ (dē·vīs′), n. [OE. devis, devise, will, intention, opinion, invention, fr. F. devis architect's plan and estimates (in OF., division, plan, wish), devise device (in sense 3), in OF. also, division, wish, last will, fr. deviser. See Devise, v. t., and cf. Devise, n.] 1. That which is devised, or formed by design; a contrivance; an invention; a project; a scheme; often, a scheme to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.

His device in against Babylon, to destroy it. Jer. li. 11.

Their recent device of demanding benevolences. Hallam.

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. Job v. 12.

2. Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

I must have instruments of my own device. Landor.

3. (a) An emblematic design, generally consisting of one or more figures with a motto, used apart from heraldic bearings to denote the historical situation, the ambition, or the desire of the person adopting it. See Cognizance. (b) Improperly, an heraldic bearing.

Knights-errant used to distinguish themselves by devices on their shields. Addison.

A banner with this strange device - Excelsior. Longfellow.

4. Anything fancifully conceived. Shak.

5. A spectacle or show. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

6. Opinion; decision. [Obs.] Rom. of R.

Syn. — Contrivance; invention; design; scheme; project; stratagem; shift. — Device, Contrivance. Device implies more of inventive power, and contrivance more of skill and dexterity in execution. A device usually has reference to something worked out for exhibition or show; a contrivance usually respects the arrangement or disposition of things with reference to securing some end. Devices were worn by knights-errant on their shields; contrivances are generally used to promote the practical convenience of life. The word device is often used in a bad sense; as, a crafty device; contrivance is almost always used in a good sense; as, a useful contrivance.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.