device

DEVICE, noun [Latin] 1. That which is formed by design, or invented; scheme; artificial contrivance; stratagem; project; sometimes in a good sense; more generally in a bad sense, as artifices are usually employed for bad purposes. In a good sense: His device is against Babylon, to destroy it. Psalms 21:11. In a bad sense: He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. Psalms 21:11. They imagined a mischievous device Psalms 21:11. 2. An emblem intended to represent a family, person, action or quality, with a suitable motto; used in painting, sculpture and heraldry. It consists in a metaphorical similitude between the things representing and represented, as the figure of a plow representing agriculture. Knights-errant used to distinguish themselves by devices on their shields. 3. Invention; genius; faculty of devising; as a man of noble device 4. A spectacle or show.