Devote
verbTo give time, energy, or resources entirely to a particular person, activity, or purpose.
How to spell devote
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce devote
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does devote mean?
- verbTo give time, energy, or resources entirely to a particular person, activity, or purpose.
Devote in a sentence
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She plans to devote her weekends to finishing the manuscript.
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After retiring he chose to devote himself to volunteer work.
Where does devote come from?
Language of origin: Latin
Devote comes from the Latin devovere, which meant 'to vow' or 'to dedicate by a solemn promise', formed from the prefix de-, used here as an intensifier meaning 'fully', and vovere, 'to vow'. The past participle of that verb, devotus, gave English the adjective 'devout' and the verb 'devote' alike. In its earliest Latin sense, to devote something often meant to consecrate it to a god or even to doom it to destruction as a sacred offering, a darker shade that survives faintly in the related word 'devoted'. English took up the word in the late 1500s with the gentler modern meaning of giving time, energy, or attention wholly to a person or purpose. The same votum root also lies behind 'vote' and 'votive', which is a useful reminder that the second syllable is spelled with that single buried 'vot'.
How the word is built
- de- (intensive, fully)
- vote (from Latin votum: a vow or solemn promise)
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