DEVOTE

give, pay, devote

(verb) dedicate; “give thought to”; “give priority to”; “pay attention to”

give, dedicate, consecrate, commit, devote

(verb) give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; “She committed herself to the work of God”; “give one’s talents to a good cause”; “consecrate your life to the church”

devote

(verb) set aside or apart for a specific purpose or use; “this land was devoted to mining”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

devote (third-person singular simple present devotes, present participle devoting, simple past and past participle devoted)

to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter

to consign over; to doom

to execrate; to curse

Usage notes

• Often used in the past participle form, which has become an adjective. See devoted.

Adjective

devote (comparative more devote, superlative most devote)

(obsolete) devoted; addicted; devout

Anagrams

• vetoed

Source: Wiktionary


De*vote", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Devoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Devoting.] Etym: [L. devotus, p. p. of devovere; de + vovere to vow. See Vow, and cf. Devout, Devow.]

1. To appropriate by vow; to set apart or dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate; also, to consign over; to doom; to evil; to devote one to destruction; the city was devoted to the flames. No devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord . . . shall be sold or redeemed. Lev. xxvii. 28.

2. To execrate; to curse. [Obs.]

3. To give up wholly; to addict; to direct the attention of wholly or compound; to attach; -- often with a reflexive pronoun; as, to devote one's self to science, to one's friends, to piety, etc.

Thy servant who is devoted to thy fear. Ps. cxix. 38. They devoted themselves unto all wickedness. Grew. A leafless and simple branch . . . devoted to the purpose of climbing. Gray.

Syn.

– To addict; apply; dedicate; consecrate; resign; destine; doom; consign. See Addict.

De*vote", a. Etym: [L. devotus, p. p.]

Definition: Devoted; addicted; devout. [Obs.] Milton.

De*vote", n.

Definition: A devotee. [Obs.] Sir E. Sandys.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 January 2025

LEFT

(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”


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Coffee Trivia

Hawaii and California are the only two U.S. states that grow coffee plants commercially.

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