# device

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪˈvaɪs/ · frequency rank #2,150

## Definitions
1. Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.
2. A peripheral device; an item of hardware.
3. A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. 1602, Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. "This is our device,/ That Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us."
4. An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb
5. A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.
6. A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.
(heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.
7. Power of devising; invention; contrivance.
8. An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.
9. An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.
10. Any specific class of wordplay element in a cryptic crossword.
11. A spectacle or show.
12. Opinion; decision.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dews-?
Proto-Indo-European *dus-
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *dwi-
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *dwís
Latin dis-
▲
Proto-Indo-European *dwi-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁-der.
Proto-Italic *wiðō
Latin *vidō
Latin dīvidō
Latin dīvīsus
Old French devisbor.
Middle English devis
English device
From Middle English devis, devise, devyce, devys, devyse, from Old French devis and devise, from Latin dīvīsus, past participle of dīvidō (“to divide”). Doublet of devise (noun).

## Easily confused with
- **dice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-dice)
- **devil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devil)
- **Devin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devin)
- **divine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-divine)
- **divide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-divide)
- **devils** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devils)
- **devote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devote)
- **devise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devise)
- **Devine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devine)
- **Devito** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devito)
- **devices** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devices)
- **devised** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/device-vs-devised)
- **devi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/devi-vs-device)
- **deuce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/deuce-vs-device)
- **decide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decide-vs-device)
- **desire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/desire-vs-device)
- **define** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/define-vs-device)
- **demise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/demise-vs-device)
- **Denise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/denise-vs-device)
- **derive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/derive-vs-device)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ddevice`, `deivce`, `devcie`, `devicce`, `deviec`, `devvice`, `dveice`, `edvice`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/device