contrivance.
A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task.
Meaning & usage
A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task.
A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective.
Something overly artful or artificial.
The making of cunning or deceitful plans
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English contrive Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -āns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin -āntia Old French -ancebor. Middle English -aunce English -ance English contrivance From contrive + -ance.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.