devise

verb (used with object), de·vised, de·vis·ing.

1. to contrive, plan, or elaborate; invent from existing principles or ideas: to devise a method.
2. Law. to assign or transmit (property) by will.
3. Archaic. to imagine; suppose.

verb (used without object), de·vised, de·vis·ing.

4. to form a plan; contrive.

noun

5. Law.
   1. the act of disposing of property, especially real property, by will.
   2. a will or clause in a will disposing of property, especially real property.
   3. the property so disposed of.

verb

1. to work out, contrive, or plan (something) in one’s mind
2. (tr) law to dispose of (property, esp real property) by will
3. (tr) obsolete to imagine or guess

noun law

4. 1. a disposition of property by will
   2. the property so transmittedCompare bequeath (def. 1)
5. a will or clause in a will disposing of real propertyCompare bequest (def. 2)

v.

early 13c., “to form, fashion;” c.1300, “to plan, contrive,” from Old French deviser “dispose in portions, arrange, plan, contrive” (in modern French, “to chat, gossip”), from Vulgar Latin *divisare, frequentative of Latin dividere “to divide” (see divide). Modern sense is from “to arrange a division” (especially via a will), a meaning present in the Old French word. Related: Devised; devising.