Adjacent Words

Devote definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEVOTE, v.t. [L., to vow.]
1. To appropriate by vow; to set apart ro dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate.
No devoted thing that a man shall devote to the Lord--shall be sold or redeemed. Every thing devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27.
2. To give up wholly; to addict; to direct the attention wholly or chiefly; to attach; as, to devote ones self to science; to devote ourselves to our friends, or to their interest or pleasure.
3. To give up; to resign; as, aliens were devoted to rapine; the city was devoted to the flames.
4. To doom; to consign over; as, to devote one to destruction.
5. To execrate; to doom to evil.
DEVOTE, a. Devoted.
DEVOTE, n. A devotee.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; "She committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church" [syn: give, dedicate, consecrate, commit, devote]
2: dedicate; "give thought to"; "give priority to"; "pay attention to" [syn: give, pay, devote]
3: set aside or apart for a specific purpose or use; "this land was devoted to mining"

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (devoted; devoting) Etymology: Latin devotus, past participle of devov?re, from de- + vov?re to vow Date: 1586 1. to commit by a solemn act <devoted herself to serving God> 2. to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise, or activity • devotement noun Synonyms: devote, dedicate, consecrate, hallow mean to set apart for a special and often higher end. devote is likely to imply compelling motives and often attachment to an objective <devoted his evenings to study>. dedicate implies solemn and exclusive devotion to a sacred or serious use or purpose <dedicated her life to medical research>. consecrate stresses investment with a solemn or sacred quality <consecrate a church to the worship of God>. hallow often differing little from dedicate or consecrate, may distinctively imply an attribution of intrinsic sanctity <battlegrounds hallowed by the blood of patriots>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. & refl. 1 (foll. by to) apply or give over (resources etc. or oneself) to (a particular activity or purpose or person) (devoted their time to reading; devoted himself to his guests). 2 archaic doom to destruction. Derivatives: devotement n. Etymology: L devovere devot- (as DE-, vovere vow)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Devote De*vote", a. [L. devotus, p. p.] Devoted; addicted; devout. [Obs.] --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Devote De*vote", n. A devotee. [Obs.] --Sir E. Sandys.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Devote De*vote", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Devoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Devoting.] [L. devotus, p. p. of devovere; de + vovere to vow. See Vow, and cf. Devout, Devow.] 1. To appropriate by vow; to set apart or dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate; also, to consign over; to doom; to evil; to devote one to destruction; the city was devoted to the flames. No devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord . . . shall be sold or redeemed. --Lev. xxvii. 28. 2. To execrate; to curse. [Obs.] 3. To give up wholly; to addict; to direct the attention of wholly or compound; to attach; -- often with a reflexive pronoun; as, to devote one's self to science, to one's friends, to piety, etc.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(devotes, devoting, devoted) 1. If you devote yourself, your time, or your energy to something, you spend all or most of your time or energy on it. He decided to devote the rest of his life to scientific investigation... Considerable resources have been devoted to proving him a liar... She gladly gave up her part-time job to devote herself entirely to her art. = dedicate VERB: V n to n/-ing, V n to n/-ing, V pron-refl to n/-ing 2. If you devote a particular proportion of a piece of writing or a speech to a particular subject, you deal with the subject in that amount of space or time. He devoted a major section of his massive report to an analysis of US aircraft design... VERB: V n to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Appropriate (by vow), consecrate, dedicate, destine, set apart. 2. Addict, apply, resign, give up. 3. Doom, give over, consign.

Moby Thesaurus

allocate, allot, apply, appoint, appropriate, assign, attempt, attend to business, beatify, bend, bestow, bless, buckle down, busy, canonize, cleanse, commit, confide, consecrate, consecrate to, consume, dedicate, dedicate to, destinate, destine, direct, donate, doom, employ, endeavor, engage, enshrine, exalt, expend, fate, foredoom, give, give away, give over to, give to, give up, glorify, hallow, hand out, mark, mind the store, occupy, ordain, pass, pass the time, pledge, present, purify, put aside, put away, put in, saint, sanctify, set apart, set aside, spend, spend the time, strive, struggle, throw, try, turn, use, use up, utilize, vow, while, while away, wile