Where does “contrivance” come from?
Contrivance comes from English contrive plus the French suffix -ance, derived from Latin -antia (noun-forming suffix), from Vulgar Latin tropare (to compose), from Latin tropus, from Ancient Greek τρόπος meaning turn or way.
contrivance (English): a device to perform a certain task; a means,...
Definitions
- a device to perform a certain task; a means,...
Ancestry of “contrivance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | contrive | To invent by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise;... |
| 2 | Middle English | contreve | to invent |
| 3 | Old French | controver | — |
| 4 | Old French | trover | to find |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | tropare | to compose; present active infinitive of *tropō |
| 6 | Latin | tropus | a figurative use of a word, a trope; a way of... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | τρόπος | a turn, way, manner, style; a trope or figure of... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | τροπή | a turning; turning away the enemy, a rout;... |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | -ή | — |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | -ᾱ | nominal suffix |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |