contrivance definition

English

Etymology

contrive +‎ -ance

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹaɪ.vəns/

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Noun

contrivance (plural contrivances)

1. A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task.
2. A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective.
   • 1842, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Lady Anne Granard, volume 1, page 208:

     I mean to give something as slight and inexpensive as possible; but I have been so long out of the way of these things, that I am really quite at a loss, and must throw myself on your kindness, as I hope you will be with me, and also Mr. and Mrs. Gooch. You must arrange in such a manner as not to blush for your own contrivances.

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 266b.

     And along with each of these go their images, not the things themselves, — they too have come about by godlike contrivance.

3. Something overly artful or artificial.

Synonyms

• contraption

Related terms

• contrive

Translations

Further reading

• contrivance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contrivance in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.