Device vs Purpose - What's the difference?
device | purpose | Related terms |
Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.
* 1949 . Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
* {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.
*
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* 1827 Hallam, Henry, , Harper
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=
, title=Pixels or Perish, volume=100, issue=2, page=106
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(rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device .
(senseid)(heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily because as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.
* 1736 . O'Callaghan, Edmund Bailey. The Documentary History of the State of New York .
(archaic) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.
* 1824 . Landor, Walter Savage "King Henry IV and Sir Arnold Savage" from Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen , page 44
* 1976 . The Eagles, "Hotel California"
(legal) An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.
(printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.
* 1943 United States Post Office Department. A Description of United States Postage Stamps / Issued by the Post Office Department from July 1, 1847, to April 1, 1945 [sic] , USGPO, Washington, p1:
(obsolete) A spectacle or show.
(obsolete) Opinion; decision.
An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= A result that is desired; an intention.
The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
* 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, title= The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
(obsolete) Instance; example.
Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
* Macaulay
(passive ) Designed for some purpose.
(obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
Device is a related term of purpose.
In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between device and purpose
is that device is (obsolete) opinion; decision while purpose is (obsolete) instance; example.As nouns the difference between device and purpose
is that device is any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one while purpose is an object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.As a verb purpose is
have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.device
English
Noun
(en noun)- Every cycle shall be equipped with: [...] (b) an audible warning device consisting of a bell [...]
citation, passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.}}
- His device is against Babylon, to destroy it.
- He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
- Their recent device of demanding benevolences.
citation, passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}
- The devices of these savages are the serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn.
- Moreover I must have instruments of mine own device , weighty, and exceeding costly
- And she said,
- "We are all prisoners here,
- Of our own device "
- Prior to the issuance of the first stamps, letters accepted by postmasters for dispatch were marked "Paid" by means of pen and ink or hand stamps of various designs. [...] To facilitate the handling of mail matter, some postmasters provided special stamps or devices for use on letters as evidence of the prepayment of postage.
- (Beaumont and Fletcher)
Synonyms
* (piece of equipment) apparatus, appliance, equipment, gadget, design, contrivance * (project or scheme) scheme, project, stratagem, artifice * invention, contrivanceDerived terms
* biodevice * device driver * electronic device * framing device * intrauterine device * literary device * nondevice * peripheral devicepurpose
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
- United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.
Sarah Glaz
Ode to Prime Numbers, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
- (Spenser)
- The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.
Synonyms
* (target ): aim, goal, object, target * (intention ): aim, plan, intention * (determination ): determination, intention, resolution * (subject of discourse ): matter, subject, topic * (reason for doing something ): reason * See alsoDerived terms
(terms derived from purpose) * all-purpose * common purpose * cross-purpose * fit for purpose * for all intents and purposes * game with a purpose * general-purpose * infinitive of purpose * multi-purpose * metapurpose * purpose-built * purposeful * purposeless * purpose-like * purpose loan * purposely * purpose statement * on purposeEtymology 2
From (etyl)Verb
(purpos)- I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living.
- (Spenser)