Device
Device , noun
[Old English devis, devise, will, intention, opinion, invention, from French devis architect's plan and estimates (in Old French, division, plan, wish), devise device (in sense 3), in Old French also, division, wish, last will, from deviser. See Devise, transitive verb, and compare 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.
Their recent device of demanding benevolences.
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty.
2.
Power of devising; invention; contrivance.
I must have instruments of my own device.
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.
A banner with this strange device -
Excelsior.
4.
Anything fancifully conceived. — Shakespeare
5.
A spectacle or show. [Obsolete] — Beau. & Fl
6.
Opinion; decision. [Obsolete] — Rom. of R
7.
any artifactual object designed to perform an action or process, with or without an operator in attendance.