contrivance
(kənˈtraɪvəns)
[f. contrive v.1 + -ance; cf. OF. controvance.]
1. The action of contriving or ingeniously endeavouring the accomplishment of anything; the bringing to pass by planning, scheming, or stratagem; manœuvring, plotting; deceitful practice.
| 1647 May Hist. Parl. ii. iv. 70 The preparations..were and yet are, in contrivance and agitation. 1769 Burke Observ. State of Nation Wks. 1842 I. 121 The original weakness of human nature is still further enfeebled by art and contrivance. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. ii. 11 The effect of contrivance and design. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 346 If there should appear to be any fraud or contrivance in a settlement of this kind. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 185 He escaped being put to death with the rest of his brothers by the contrivance of his mother. |
2. The action of inventing or making with thought and skill; invention.
| 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece iii. ix. (1715) 82 Others attribute the first Contrivance of it [the Tyrrhenian Trumpet] to Tyrrhenus. Ibid. iii. x. 91 Not easily induc'd to allow the Contrivance of any Art to other Nations. |
† 3. Ingenious adaptation or application. Obs.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. xi. 45 So was there no naturall dependance of the event upon the signe, but an artificiall contrivance of the signe unto the event. 1667 H. More Div. Dial. i. vi. (1713) 13 The Contrivance of the Earth into Hills and Springs..is not all this for the best? |
4. Adaptation of means to an end; design, intention.
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. i. (1723) 163 Proofs of Contrivance in the Structure of the Globe. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. i. §63 The works of nature, which discover so much harmony and contrivance in their make. 1785 Reid Int. Powers vi. vi, The marks of good contrivance which appear in the works of God. 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 199/1 Marks of intelligent contrivance in this particular creation with which we are acquainted. |
5. The faculty or ability of contriving; inventive capacity.
| 1659 Vulgar Errors Censured 10 This mocking at Red Hair..calleth into question his Contrivance: For such men are his workmanship. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. i. i. 184 That the ancient Egyptians should have had the art and contrivance to dig even in the very quarry a canal. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. i. (1880) 7 Such an extraordinary uniformity was considered entirely beyond the reach of human contrivance. |
† 6. The way in which a thing has been contrived; the resulting condition, state, or quality. Obs.
| 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 121 That which still appears most admirable is, the contrivance of the porticos, vaults, and stairs. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 7 The curious Mechanism and organical Contrivance of those Minute Animals. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 38 A Parterre of Embroidery of a very new Contrivance. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 19 The contrivance of this rocket is very pretty. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 46 Rods with joints..each with a pin to slide into the ferule, and plugs of wood of similar contrivance, to fit afterwards into them. |
7. An arrangement or thing in which the foregoing action or faculty is embodied; something contrived for, or employed in contriving to effect a purpose. a. A plan or scheme for attaining some end; an ingenious device or expedient; an artifice, a trick.
| 1627–8 Feltham Resolves ii. xxvii. (R.), The sage sayings, the rare examples, the noble enterprises, the handsome contrivances..the motives and incitements to vertue, and the like..that must build us up to the gallantry and perfection of man. 1694 Acct. of Sweden 16 Iron..is grown so cheap, that it is found necessary to lessen the number of Forges; neither has that contrivance had the effect intended. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will ii. xi. 116 The grand Scheme and Contrivance for our Redemption. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. vii. 136 The world..regarded the interview as a contrivance to reconcile Francis and the emperor. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 436 The value which they set upon military stratagems and contrivances. |
† b. A conspiracy, plot. Obs.
| 1689 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 544 They had discovered a contrivance there, on which 3 lords..with others, are seiz'd. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 28 As the contrivance was yet but two days old..they would be some days caballing. 1726 Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 208 This occasion'd many Plots and Contrivances to regain the flying Fair Ones. |
c. A mechanical device or arrangement; sometimes applied contemptuously.
| 1667 H. Oldenburg in Phil. Trans. II. 432 Letting this contrivance fall into the Current, along the Rocks. 1797–1804 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 79 Various contrivances have been made both to kill and frighten them away. 1865 [see constructive 3]. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne I. vi. 82 Tell Rose..to have an easy lounging-chair in place of that abominable horsehair contrivance. 1879 J. Timbs in Cassell's Techn. Educ. iii. 190 The ratchet-wheel and click for winding up the weight..would soon be found an indispensable contrivance. |
d. fig. Applied to natural arrangements, or organs showing special adaptation to the performance of functions.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 8 Nature hath also fitted it [the Butterfly's tongue]..with that spiral or cochleary contrivance. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 228 This cyst of liquor [in the cuttle-fish] is certainly a most apt and curious contrivance. 1862 Darwin Fertil. Orchids Introd. 1 The contrivances by which Orchids are fertilized. |