Library / English Dictionary

DEVOTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dedicate

Example:

pay attention to

Synonyms:

devote; give; pay

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "devote" is one way to...):

cerebrate; cogitate; think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)

Verb group:

give; sacrifice (endure the loss of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause

Example:

consecrate your life to the church

Synonyms:

commit; consecrate; dedicate; devote; give

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "devote" is one way to...):

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Verb group:

give (offer in good faith)

give; sacrifice (endure the loss of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "devote"):

consecrate; vow (dedicate to a deity by a vow)

rededicate (dedicate anew)

apply (apply oneself to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

devotee (an ardent follower and admirer)

devotion (religious zeal; the willingness to serve God)

devotion (commitment to some purpose)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Set aside or apart for a specific purpose or use

Example:

this land was devoted to mining

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "devote" is one way to...):

reserve (hold back or set aside, especially for future use or contingency)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

And yet that would involve treachery towards the mistress to whom this woman seems devoted.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also, in writing to his employer, Matt devoted a postscript to White Fang.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

That aspect of consciousness devoted to affect or feeling; a strong feeling, aroused mental state, or intense state of drive or unrest directed toward a definite object, with physiological, somatic, and behavioral components.

(Emotion, NCI Thesaurus)

I was bound by a solemn promise which I had not yet fulfilled and dared not break, or if I did, what manifold miseries might not impend over me and my devoted family!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Was not he devoted to you at the ball?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

From now onwards you devote your energies to getting us out of this horrible country and back once more to civilization.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But while so many were devoting him to Emma, and Emma herself making him over to Harriet, Mr. Knightley began to suspect him of some inclination to trifle with Jane Fairfax.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The second was devoted to the place which Lady Frances Carfax had sought when she left Lausanne.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Marianne could never love by halves; and her whole heart became, in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I do not mean, however, to assert that we can be justified in devoting too much of our time to music, for there are certainly other things to be attended to.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)