contraption

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4] The OED calls it a popular formation, apparently from English from contrive (or its variant contreve), on the pattern of conceive and conception, with perhaps some vague association with trap;^[5] the Shorter Oxford, the Concise Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad say much the same.^[6][7][8][9] Weekley also saw an irregular formation from contrive, on the model of deceive and deception.^[10] Others take it as a blend: Merriam-Webster of contrivance, trap and invention,^[4][11] Collins of contrivance, trap and the end of invention,^[12] the American Heritage Dictionary of contrive and trap, a mock-Latinate formation,^[13] Partridge and Dictionary.com of contrivance and adaptation (or adaption),^[14][15] and Klein of contrive and apt.^[16] Barnhart thinks it was possibly suggested by contrivance, combined in some unexplained way with trap and the ending -tion, and wonders whether trap here is the small horse-drawn carriage also found in rattletrap.^[3] Etymonline suggests contrive and trap, or deception.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A contrivance or device, especially one more ingenious than effective: 1825, in J. Jennings's Observations on the Dialects of the West of England, as a Somerset word.^[5][17][3] Etymonline and Barnhart describe it as originally a dialect word of western England,^[2][3] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1815–25.^[15]

Semantic evolution

Wright's English Dialect Dictionary records the word in Lancashire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon, for a contrivance or makeshift, and also in America, citing Bartlett for its frequent use there.^[17] In Warwickshire, Shropshire and Somerset the plural also meant a person's belongings, and in Sussex a pedlar's pack could be called his contraption.^[17] In general English it has stayed an informal word for a strange, complicated or improvised device, often said in mild scorn or with indulgence.^[4][12][6]

Timeline

• 1825 – a contrivance or device, in western English dialect.^[5][3][17]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal) A device or gadget, especially one that looks strange, needlessly complicated or improvised: He pedalled off on some homemade contraption of wheels and planks.^{[12][4][6][5]}
2. (dialect) In the plural, a person's belongings.^[17]

Word family

• contraptious

Related words

• contrive
• contrivance
• trap

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
14. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
15. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
16. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
17. ^ a b c d e Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)