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Origin and history of contrive

contrive(v.)

early 14c., controve, contreve, "to invent, devise, plan;" late 14c., "to manage by a plan or scheme," from Old French controver (Modern French controuver) "to find out, contrive, imagine," from Late Latin contropare "to compare" (via a figure of speech), from an assimilated form of Latin com "with, together" (see con-) + tropus "song, musical mode," from Greek tropos "figure of speech" (from PIE root *trep- "to turn").

Sense evolution (in French) was from "invent with ingenuity" to "invent falsely." Spelling in English was altered by the same unexplained 15c. sound change that also affected briar, friar, choir. Related: Contrived; contriving.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to contrive

briar(n.)

see brier (n.1).

choir(n.)

c. 1300, queor "part of the church where the choir sings," from Old French cuer, quer "(architectural) choir of a church; chorus of singers" (13c., Modern French choeur), from Latin chorus "choir" (see chorus).

The meaning "band of singers" in English is from c. 1400, quyre. It was re-spelled mid-17c. in an attempt to match classical forms, but the pronunciation has not changed.

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friar
"member of one of the mendicant monastic orders of the Church," late 13c., frere, from Old French frere "brother, friar" (9c., Modern French frère), originally referring to the mendicant orders (Franciscans, Augustines, Dominicans, Carmelites), who reached England early 13c., fro
invent
c. 1500, "to find, discover" (obsolete), a back-formation from invention or else from Latin inventus, past participle of invenire "to come upon; devise, discover." The general sense of "make up, fabricate, concoct, devise" (a plot, excuse, etc.) is from 1530s, as is that of "prod
devise
early 13c., devisen, "to form, fashion;" c. 1300, "to plan, contrive, think or study out, elaborate in the mind," from Old French deviser "dispose in portions, arrange, plan, contrive" (in Modern French, "to chat, gossip"), from Vulgar Latin *divisare, frequentative of Latin divi
concert
1690s, "to contrive, adjust;" 1707, "to contrive and arrange mutually," from French concerter and directly from Italian concertare...
machination
machinationem (nominative machinatio) "device, contrivance, machination," noun of action from past-participle stem of machinari "to contrive...
design
The Italian verb disegnare in 16c. developed the senses "to contrive, plot, intend," and "to draw, paint, embroider, etc....From 1540s as "to plan or outline, form a scheme;" from 1703 as "to contrive for a purpose."...
comment
comment, interpretation," in classical Latin "invention, fabrication, fiction," neuter past participle of comminisci "to contrive...
plan
1670s as a technical term in perspective drawing; more generally by 1706 as "the representation of anything drawn on a plane; a drawing, sketch, or diagram of any object," from French plan "ground plot of a building, map," literally "plane surface" (mid-16c.), from Latin planum "
cast
c. 1200, "throw, throw violently, fling, hurl," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse kasta "to throw" (cognate with Swedish kasta, Danish kaste, North Frisian kastin), a word of uncertain origin. The meaning "to form in a mold" is late 15c. In the sense of "to throw" it r
map
"drawing upon a plane surface representing a part or whole of the earth's surface or the heavens, with the various points drawn in proportion and in corresponding positions," 1520s, a shortening of Middle English mapemounde "map of the world" (late 14c.), and in part from French

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