contrive

English

Etymology

From Middle English contrive (15th c.), an alteration of contreve(n), controve(n) (“to invent”, 14th c.), from Old French controver, derived from trover (“to find”). Cognate with Modern French controuver. The Middle English form with -e- reflects the Old French tonic stem (il contrueve), but the shift to -i- seems to be unclear. The regular vocalism has been preserved in retrieve (for which in Middle English also retrive).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹaɪv/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

contrive (third-person singular simple present contrives, present participle contriving, simple past and past participle contrived)

1. To invent by an exercise of ingeniosity; to devise

   Synonyms: plan, scheme, plot, hatch, get

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     […] I cannot bear the idea of two young women traveling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must contrive to send somebody.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:

     Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 10, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.

2. To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation.
3. To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To spend (time, or a period).

Synonyms

• becast
• cast about

Derived terms

• contrivable
• contrivance
• contrived
• contrivement
• contriver
• precontrive
• recontrive
• uncontriving

Translations

To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to plan; to scheme; to plot — see also devise,‎ elucubrate

• Albanian: thur (sq)
• Bulgarian: замислям (bg) (zamisljam)
• Catalan: idear (ca)
• Dutch: beramen (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} elpensi
• Finnish: suunnitella (fi)
• French: combiner (fr)
• German: ersinnen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μήδομαι (mḗdomai), ἐπιβολεύω (epiboleúō)

• Italian: combinare (it), programmare (it), intrigare (it), complottare (it), architettare (it), escogitare (it), inventare (it), mettere su (it)
• Russian: замышлять (ru) (zamyšljatʹ)
• Spanish: idear (es), discurrir (es), complotar (es), urdir (es), maquinar (es)
• Swedish: tänka ut (sv)
• Turkish: akıl etmek (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: پرگارلامق (pergerlemek)

To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation — see also improvise,‎ invent

• Bulgarian: изобретявам (bg) (izobretjavam)
• Czech: sestrojit pf, vynalézt pf, vymyslet (cs) pf
• Dutch: ontwerpen (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} aranĝi (eo)
• Finnish: keksiä (fi), improvisoida (fi)
• French: inventer (fr)
• German: entwerfen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μηχανάομαι (mēkhanáomai), ἐκπορίζω (ekporízō)

• Romanian: inventa (ro), improviza (ro)
• Russian: изобрета́ть (ru) (izobretátʹ)
• Turkish: icat etmek (tr), tasarlamak (tr)

To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light

• Dutch: plannen (nl)
• Finnish: heittää (fi)
• German: bewerkstelligen (de)
• Turkish: yolunu bulmak (tr)

Anagrams

• renovict