devise

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The Word of the Day for November 8 is:

devise   \dih-VYZE\   verb
     1 *a : to form in the mind by new combinations or 
applications of ideas or principles : invent  b : to plan to 
obtain or bring about : plot  
     2 : to give (real estate) by will 

Example sentence: 
     As a young scientist, Constance devised ingenious ways of 
collecting and interpreting data.

Did you know?
      There's something inventive about "devise," a word that 
stems from Latin "dividere," meaning "to divide." By the 
time "devise" appeared in English in the 1200s, its Anglo-French 
forebear "deviser" had accumulated an array of senses, 
including "to divide," "distribute," "arrange," 
"array," "digest," "order," "plan," "invent," "contrive," 
and "assign by will." English adopted most of these and added 
some new senses over the course of time: "to 
imagine," "guess," "pretend," and "describe." In modern use, 
we've disposed of a lot of the old meanings, but we kept the one 
that applies to wills. "Devise" traditionally referred to the 
transfer of real property (land), and "bequeath" to personal 
property; these days, however, "devise" is often recognized as 
applying generally to all the property in a person's estate.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.