Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-VICE', n. [Fr. devis, devise; It. divisa; from L. divisus, divido.]

1. That which is formed by design, or invented; scheme; artificial contrivance; stratagem; project; sometimes in a good sense; more generally in a bad sense, as artifices are usually employed for bad purposes. In a good sense: His device is against Babylon, to destroy it. – Jer. li. In a bad sense: He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. – Job v. They imagined a mischievous device. – Ps. xxi.
2. An emblem intended to represent a family, person, action or quality, with a suitable motto; used in painting, sculpture and heraldry. It consists in a metaphorical similitude between the things representing and represented, as the figure of a plow representing agriculture. Knights-errant used to distinguish themselves by devices on their shields. – Addison.
3. Invention; genius; faculty of devising; as a man of noble device. – Shak.
4. A spectacle or show. [Obs.] – Beaum.