architects

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of architect.

   Several architects competed for the contract to design the museum.

   The architects behind the peace deal spent months negotiating its terms.

   Note

   One plural serves two kinds of people: professionals who design buildings, and those who plan or bring about a result, such as the architects of a reform or a peace deal. The figurative use usually takes of and names what was achieved. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb. A determiner before it (the architects) marks the noun. An object after it (architects the system) marks the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of architect.

   Their lead engineer architects the entire platform before any code is written.

   The firm architects custom solutions for clients in the energy sector.

   Note

   A verb made from the noun, and a transitive one: it needs an object, such as a platform, a strategy or a settlement. It is most at home in technology and design writing, where it means to design or structure a complex system. The object is also what separates it from the plural noun: the firm architects a solution.

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