devices
(noun) an inclination or desire; used in the plural in the phrase ‘left to your own devices’; “eventually the family left the house to the devices of this malevolent force”; “the children were left to their own devices”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
devices
plural of device
Source: Wiktionary
De*vice", n. Etym: [OE. devis, devise, will, intention, opinion, invention, fr. F. devis architect's plan and estimates (in OF., division, plan, wish), devise device (in sense 3), in OF. also, division, wish, last will, fr. deviser. See Devise, v. t., and cf. Devise, n.]
1. That which is devised, or formed by design; a contrivance; an invention; a project; a scheme; often, a scheme to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. His device in against Babylon, to destroy it. Jer. li. 11. Their recent device of demanding benevolences. Hallam. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. Job v. 12.
2. Power of devising; invention; contrivance. I must have instruments of my own device. Landor.
3. (a) An emblematic design, generally consisting of one or more figures with a motto, used apart from heraldic bearings to denote the historical situation, the ambition, or the desire of the person adopting it. See Cognizance. (b) Improperly, an heraldic bearing. Knights-errant used to distinguish themselves by devices on their shields. Addison. A banner with this strange device -Excelsior. Longfellow.
4. Anything fancifully conceived. Shak.
5. A spectacle or show. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
6. Opinion; decision. [Obs.] Rom. of R.
Syn.
– Contrivance; invention; design; scheme; project; stratagem; shift.
– Device, Contrivance. Device implies more of inventive power, and contrivance more of skill and dexterity in execution. A device usually has reference to something worked out for exhibition or show; a contrivance usually respects the arrangement or disposition of things with reference to securing some end. Devices were worn by knights-errant on their shields; contrivances are generally used to promote the practical convenience of life. The word device is often used in a bad sense; as, a crafty device; contrivance is almost always used in a good sense; as, a useful contrivance.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
1 May 2025
(adjective) of or relating to an economy, the system of production and management of material wealth; “economic growth”; “aspects of social, political, and economical life”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
