contrivance

English

Etymology

contrive +‎ -ance

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹaɪ.vəns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

contrivance (plural contrivances)

1. A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task; contraption.
2. A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective.
   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. , volume I, London: Henry Colburn, , published 1842, →OCLC, 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, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “contrivance”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.