English
contrive
Contrive comes from Old French controver, from trover ‘to find’, and ultimately from Vulgar Latin *tropāre.
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tropāre‘find’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400trover‘to find’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400controver
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contreve‘to invent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1813contrive
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tropāre‘find’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400trover‘to find’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400controver
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500contreve‘to invent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1813contrive
Earliest quotation: 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice: […]: “[…]I cannot bear the idea of two young women…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *trep- ‘to turn’
thrive, intrepid, trepidation, turpitude, 31 more
through Ancient Greek τρέπω ‘turn, divert, turn back, rout an enemy’
through Latin tropus ‘figurative use of a word’
through Vulgar Latin *tropāre ‘find’
through Old French trover ‘to find’
Today it means
verb To invent by an exercise of ingeniosity; to devise
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Vulgar Latin *tropāre / contrive