devise
French, noun
devise is spelled D-E-V-I-S-E (6 letters) and appears 9.3 times per million words in written French, the 7,048th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Devise is a French feminine noun meaning “motto” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of deviser. With an accent, devisé is a different word: “past participle of deviser”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Figure accompagnée d’une phrase exprimant d’une manière allégorique et brève quelque pensée, quelque…”.
What does devise mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininemotto
- 2
feminineassets in foreign currency
- 3
femininecurrency
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of deviser
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Figure accompagnée d’une phrase exprimant d’une manière allégorique et brève quelque pensée, quelque sentiment. 2. Sentence qui accompagne les armoiries. 3. Fasce réduite posée en chef. 4. Un ou plusieurs mots exprimant la manière de penser, de sentir, d’agir de quelqu’un.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of devise
- devises plural
- devisée feminine
- devisés masculine plural
- devisées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to devise
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is devise in French?
devise appears 9.3 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).