contrive
UK[kənˈtraɪv]US[kənˈtraɪv]
v
to manage to do something difficult, or to make something happen, by using your intelligence or by tricking people
v
to think of or create something, especially in a clever or unusual way
Morpheme Breakdown
con
trive
con
together, with, thoroughly
trive
to find, to compose
Etymology
the word 'contrive' entered middle english from old french 'controver' or 'controuver', meaning to invent, devise, or fabricate. the old french term is built from the latin elements 'com-' (an intensifying prefix) and 'tropus' (a figure of speech, a turn), which itself derives from greek 'tropos' (turn, way, manner). the semantic journey moved from the literal sense of 'turning something over in the mind' to the figurative sense of cleverly inventing or planning. thus, the modern meaning retains the core idea of using mental ingenuity to find or create a solution, often with a sense of skillful or sometimes deceptive planning.
Analysis
Structure: con + trive
con- (latin origin, a prefix meaning 'together, with, thoroughly'); trive (from latin 'tropus', via old french 'trover', meaning 'to find, to compose')
Examples
she somehow contrived to get tickets for the sold-out concert.
the prisoners contrived a daring escape plan using everyday objects.
the plot of the novel is cleverly contrived to keep the reader guessing until the end.