Definition of: design

(di·zīn′) v.t.
1. To make, draw, or prepare preliminary plans or sketches of.
2. To plan and make with art or skill, as a structure or work of art.
3. To form or make (plans, schemes, etc.) in the mind; conceive; invent.
4. To intend; purpose.
5. Archaic To mark out; designate.
—v.i.
6. To make drawings or plans; be a designer.
7. To plan mentally; conceive.
—noun
1. An arrangement of forms or colors, or both, intended to be wrought out for use or ornament in or on various materials; a pattern; preliminary sketch; coordination of details.
2. The art of designing; artistic invention; the artistic idea as executed; original work in the graphic or plastic arts.
3. A fixed purpose or intention; plot; scheme.
4. The adaptation of means to an end; plan; contrivance.
5. The object or reason; final purpose. [<MF désigner designate <L designare. See DESIGNATE.]
—de·sign′a·ble adjective Synonyms (noun): aim, device, end, intent, intention, object, plan, project, proposal, purpose, scheme. Design refers to the adaptation of means to an end, the correspondence and coordination of parts, or of separate acts, to produce a result; intent and purpose overleap all particulars, and fasten on the end itself. Intention is simply the more familiar form of the legal and philosophical intent. Plan relates to details of form, structure, and action, in themselves; design considers these same details all as a means to an end. The plan of a campaign may be for a series of sharp attacks, with the design of thus surprising and overpowering the enemy. A man comes to a fixed intention to kill his enemy; he forms a plan to entrap him into his power, with the design of then compassing his death; as the law cannot read the heart, it can only infer the intent from the evidences of design. Intent denotes a straining, stretching forth toward an object, purpose simply the placing it before oneself. Intention contemplates the possibility of failure; purpose looks to assured success, intent or intention refers especially to the state of mind of the actor, purpose to the result of the action. Compare AIM, END, IDEA, MODEL, PROJECT, PURPOSE, REASON.