# design

Pronunciation: say "di-ZYN" /dɪˈzaɪn/

## Verb

1. To devise or produce something aimed at a specific purpose, function or group of people.
   - Simple: To make or plan something so that it fits a certain use, purpose or group of people.
   - _The loan program was designed to help small businesses reopen after the hurricane._
   - _Architects now design most public buildings with wheelchair users in mind._
3. To work out in advance the shape, look, and workings of a particular thing that is to be built or made, usually in drawings or plans.
   - Simple: To plan how something will look and work, often by drawing it before it is made.
   - _The team designed a bridge capable of withstanding strong earthquakes._
   - _Architects design buildings that respond to their surroundings._

## Noun

2. The way something has been planned and made, including its shape, its look and the arrangement of its parts.
   - Simple: The way something looks and how its parts are arranged.
   - _The chair's elegant design drew attention at the furniture fair._
   - _Shoppers praised the bottle's design for its smooth, modern shape._
4. The practice or skill of planning how objects, images, or systems look and function.
   - Simple: The work or skill of planning how things look and work.
   - _He built a career in design after years of training._
   - _Modern design blends beauty with usefulness._
5. A plan or drawing that shows how a building, object or system will be made and will work, often setting out what it must do.
   - Simple: A plan or drawing that shows how something will be built and how it will work.
   - _The architect presented a design for the museum that balanced open space with structural strength._
   - _Before work could begin, the engineers had to submit their design for the bridge to the city for approval._
6. A pattern that forms an element of a work of art or a building.
   - Simple: A pattern used as a part of art or a building.
   - _Intricate designs covered the temple's stone walls._
   - _The potter pressed a spiral design into the wet clay._
7. A purpose or plan, especially a deliberate intention to bring something about.
   - Simple: A plan or aim that someone has on purpose.
   - _The collapse was no accident but the result of careful design._
   - _Everything unfolded according to his design._
8. A hostile or underhand intention toward someone or something, often a scheme to harm them or take what is theirs.
   - Simple: A secret plan to harm someone or something, or to take something unfairly.
   - _He harbored designs on his rival's fortune._
   - _Their friendly smiles concealed a darker design._

## Verb

9. To intend or plan to do something. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To plan or intend to do something.
10. To assign or appoint something to a person; to designate someone for a role. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To give a job or thing to someone, or to choose them for it.
11. To mark out and show something; to indicate, point out, or designate it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To point something out, show it, or mark it clearly.

## Origin

Latin 'signum' ('mark') gave 'signō' ('I mark'), and with 'de-' (or 'dis-') this became 'designō' ('I mark out, point out, describe, contrive'), which passed through Old French 'designer' into Middle English 'designen'. It is a doublet of 'designate'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/design (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).