device

 
Pronunciation: /dɪˈvʌɪs/

noun

  • 1a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment: a measuring device
  • a bomb or other explosive weapon: an incendiary device
  • 2a plan, method, or trick with a particular aim: writing a letter to a newspaper is a traditional device for signalling dissent
  • a form of words intended to produce a particular effect in speech or a literary work: a rhetorical device
  • 3a drawing or design: the decorative device on the invitations
  • an emblematic or heraldic design: their shields bear the device of the Blazing Sun
  • [mass noun] archaic the design or look of something: works of strange device

Phrases

leave someone to their own devices

leave someone to do as they wish without supervision: left to her own devices, Lucy wondered what she should do next

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French devis, based on Latin divis- 'divided', from the verb dividere. The original sense was 'desire or intention', found now only in leave someone to their own devices (which has become associated with device (sense 2))