design Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of working out the form of something (as by making a sketch or outline or plan)
    designing.
    • he contributed to the design of a new instrument
  2. noun an arrangement scheme
    plan.
    • the awkward design of the keyboard made operation difficult
    • it was an excellent design for living
    • a plan for seating guests
  3. noun something intended as a guide for making something else
    blueprint; pattern.
    • a blueprint for a house
    • a pattern for a skirt
  4. noun a decorative or artistic work
    pattern; figure.
    • the coach had a design on the doors
  5. noun an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
    aim; intention; intent; purpose.
    • his intent was to provide a new translation
    • good intentions are not enough
    • it was created with the conscious aim of answering immediate needs
    • he made no secret of his designs
  6. noun a preliminary sketch indicating the plan for something
    • the design of a building
  7. noun the creation of something in the mind
    invention; conception; excogitation; innovation.
  8. verb make or work out a plan for; devise
    project; contrive; plan.
    • They contrived to murder their boss
    • design a new sales strategy
    • plan an attack
  9. verb plan something for a specific role or purpose or effect
    • This room is not designed for work
  10. verb create the design for; create or execute in an artistic or highly skilled manner
    • Chanel designed the famous suit
  11. verb make a design of; plan out in systematic, often graphic form
    plan.
    • design a better mousetrap
    • plan the new wing of the museum
  12. verb create designs
    • Dupont designs for the house of Chanel
  13. verb conceive or fashion in the mind; invent
    • She designed a good excuse for not attending classes that day
  14. verb intend or have as a purpose
    • She designed to go far in the world of business

WordNet

De*sign" transitive verb
Etymology
F. désigner to designate, cf. F. dessiner to draw, dessin drawing, dessein a plan or scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de- + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See Sign, and cf. Design, n., Designate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Designed ; present participle & verbal noun Designing
Definitions
  1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to draw. Dryden.
  2. To mark out and exhibit; to designate; to indicate; to show; to point out; to appoint.
    We shall see Justice design the victor's chivalry. Shak.
    Meet me to-morrow where the master And this fraternity shall design. Beau. & Fl.
  3. To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a statue, or a cathedral.
  4. To intend or purpose; -- usually with for before the remote object, but sometimes with to.
    Ask of politicians the end for which laws were originally designed. Burke.
    He was designed to the study of the law. Dryden.
    Syn. -- To sketch; plan; purpose; intend; propose; project; mean.
De*sign" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To form a design or designs; to plan. Evelyn.
De*sign" noun
Etymology
Cf. dessein, dessin.
Definitions
  1. A preliminary sketch; an outline or pattern of the main features of something to be executed, as of a picture, a building, or a decoration; a delineation; a plan.
  2. A plan or scheme formed in the mind of something to be done; preliminary conception; idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action; intention; purpose; -- often used in a bad sense for evil intention or purpose; scheme; plot.
    The vast design and purpos of the King. Tennyson.
    The leaders of that assembly who withstood the designs of a besotted woman. Hallam.
    A . . . settled design upon another man's life. Locke.
    How little he could guess the secret designs of the court! Macaulay.
  3. Specifically, intention or purpose as revealed or inferred from the adaptation of means to an end; as, the argument from design.
  4. The realization of an inventive or decorative plan; esp., a work of decorative art considered as a new creation; conception or plan shown in completed work; as, this carved panel is a fine design, or of a fine design.
  5. (Mus.) The invention and conduct of the subject; the disposition of every part, and the general order of the whole. Syn. -- Intention; purpose; scheme; project; plan; idea. -- Design, Intention, Purpose. Design has reference to something definitely aimed at. Intention points to the feelings or desires with which a thing is sought. Purpose has reference to a settled choice or determination for its attainment. "I had no design to injure you," means it was no part of my aim or object. "I had no intention to injure you," means, I had no wish or desire of that kind. "My purpose was directly the reverse," makes the case still stronger.
    Is he a prudent man . . . that lays designs only for a day, without any prospect to the remaining part of his life? Tillotson.
    I wish others the same intention, and greater successes. Sir W. Temple.
    It is the purpose that makes strong the vow. Shak.

Webster 1913