contrivance

contrive +‎ -ance

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹaɪ.vəns/

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contrivance (plural contrivances)

1. a (mechanical) device to perform a certain task
2. a means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 266b.

     And along with each of these go their images, not the things themselves, — they too have come about by godlike contrivance.

3. something overly artful or artificial

• contraption

• contrive

• contrivance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contrivance in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.