design
Syllables: de·signUK/dɪˈzaɪn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/dɪˈzɑen/
design noun: a specification of an object or process, referring to requirements to be satisfied and thus conditions to be met for them to solve a problem.
Noun
design (countable and uncountable, plural designs)
- A specification of an object or process, referring to requirements to be satisfied and thus conditions to be met for them to solve a problem.
- The Wikilambda developers charmingly admit that they are not very experienced in language design.2026, Michael Falk, “Wikilambda the ultimate: the Wikimedia foundation’s search for the perfect language”, in AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication, →DOI
- A plan (with more or less detail) for the structure and functions of an artifact, building or system.
- The initial design of the park was rejected for being too expensive.
- Where it had been left hundreds of years ago, / Extract from the depth, is but a setting sun, / Paradise is scarce in this light that won’t shine, / What is our earthly task, but a worthy design?1999, Lætitia Sadier, “The Free Design”, in Tim Gane (music), Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, performed by Stereolab
- Synonyms:
- diagram
- A pattern, as an element of a work of art or architecture.
- We're working on some new designs for our range of summer shirts
- The composition of a work of art.
- Intention or plot.
- We have designs on winning the league next season.
- To be hateful of the truth by design.
- The shape or appearance given to an object, especially one that is intended to make it more attractive.
- He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
- The art of designing
- Danish furniture design is world-famous.
Verb
design (third-person singular simple present designs, present participle designing, simple past and past participle designed)
- To plan and carry out (a picture, work of art, construction etc.).
- comments designed to chip away at my self-esteem
- He always designs gaming laptops from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am.
- To plan (to do something).
- The king designed to mount an expedition to the New World.
- To assign, appoint (something to someone); to designate.
- he looks not below the Moon, but hath designed the regiment of sublunary affairs unto inferiour deputations.1646, Thomas Browne, chapter I, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 10
- He was designed to the study of the law.1700, John Dryden, Translations from Ovid's Epistles, Preface
- To mark out and exhibit; to designate; to indicate; to show; to point out; to appoint.
- To manifest requirements to be satisfied by an object or process for them to solve a problem.
- We shall see / Justice design the victor's chivalry.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
- Meet me to-morrow where the master / And this fraternity shall design.1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Knight of Malta”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […]...
design meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
design in Hindi
- plan
- डिज़ाइन ḍizāin, अभिकल्प abhikalp
- art of designing
- डिज़ाइन ḍizāin
design in Tamil
- வடிவமைப்பு, வடிவு, வடிவம், வடிவாக்கம், உருவரை, முன்மாதிரி
design in Urdu
- plan
- تَرْتِیب tartīb, ڈِیزائِن ḍīzāin
design in Bengali
- design, sketch, drawing
- নকশা nokśa
- design
- মকসদ môksôd
More languagesFewer languages
- design in Malayalam
- ഡിസൈൻ ḍisaiṉ
- design in Kannada
- ಈಡು, ಹಮ್ಮುಗೆ, ಹಂಚಿಕೆ, ಚಿತ್ರ
- design in Gujarati
- નકશો nakśo
- design in Odia
- ନକସା nakasā
- design in Sanskrit
- कू kū, योजना yojanā
- design in Tagalog
- antangan
- design in Arabic
- تَخْطِيط taḵṭīṭ, تصميم taṣmīm, تَصْمِيم taṣmīm, ديزاين dīzāyn
- design in Malay
- reka bentuk
- design in Indonesian
- desain, rancangan
- design in Persian
- طراحی کردن tarrâhi kardan, طرازیدن tarâzidan
- design in Thai
- แบบ bɛ̀ɛp, การออกแบบ gaan-ɔ̀ɔk-bɛ̀ɛp, ออกแบบ ɔ̀ɔk-bɛ̀ɛp
- design in Vietnamese
- thiết kế
- design in Myanmar
- ဒီဇိုင်း dijuing:
- Sindhi
- جنسارڻ Jinsaaran
Examples of design in a sentence
- I give it you without any other design than to shew you that I reckon nothing dear to me, when I want to do you a pleasure.1763, Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisisana, PG, page 40:
- I wanted to be for the tenth time, but the post was taken," said Count Siniavin to the pretty Princess Tcharskaya, who had designs on him.1901 [1878], chapter 5, in Constance Garnett, transl., Anna Karenina, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, part 5:
Synonyms of design
Forms of design
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | designs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | designs |
| present participle | designing |
| past participle | designed |
| past | designed |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | designest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | designedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | designeth |
Origin of design
From Middle English designen, from Old French designer, from Latin designō (“to mark out, point out, describe, design, contrive”), from de- (or dis-) + signō (“to mark”), from signum (“mark”). Doublet of designate.
Words formed from design
- antidesign
- argument from design
- biodesign
- by design
- designathon
- design-based learning
- design code
- design depth
- design fiction
- design flaw
- designful
- design language
- designless
- design load
- designment
- designoid
- design pattern
- design release engineer
- design and release engineer
- design speed
- design system
- design thinking
- design to cost
- designwise
- ecodesign
- industrial design right
- nanodesign
- nondesign
- scenic design
- secure by design
- security-by-design
- security by design
- service design package
- set design
- stage design
- subdesign
- thermal design power
- designer
- misdesign
- undesign
- a camel is a horse designed by a committee
- codesign
- designability
- designable
- designed
- designedly
- foredesign
- outdesign
- overdesign
- predesign
- redesign
- undesignable
- undesigned
- undesignedly
Phrases with design
- web design
- flat design
- open design
- type design
- block design
- design codes
- design flaws
- design loads
- sound design
- design depths
- motion design
- design systems
32 more phrasesFewer phrases
- fashion design
- graphic design
- product design
- seismic design
- systems design
- backward design
- design fictions
- design patterns
- interior design
- defensive design
- design languages
- universal design
- industrial design
- responsive design
- zero-order design
- design by contract
- information design
- intelligent design
- interaction design
- model-based design
- experimental design
- computational design
- instructional design
- arguments from design
- computer-aided design
- responsive web design
- visitor design pattern
- cradle-to-cradle design
- service design packages
- visitor design patterns
- industrial design rights
- universal design for instruction
Words that rhyme with design
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- divine
- combine
- pine
- spline
- swine
- consign
- frankenstein
- nine
- refine
- vine
- whine
- benign
- chine
- in line
- intertwine
- recline
- resign
- rine
- undermine
- wine
- affine
- anodyne
- dine
- gold mine
- incline
- malign
- opine
- outshine
- propine
- red line
- shrine
- syne
- tine
- trunk line
- tyne
- atrine
- berine
- bine
- brine
- cline
- confine
- disentwine
- einstein
- equine
- offline
- quine
- repine
- rhine
Questions about design
- What does design mean?
- Design means a specification of an object or process, referring to requirements to be satisfied and thus conditions to be met for them to solve a problem.
- What is design in Hindi?
- Design in Hindi is डिज़ाइन (ḍizāin), अभिकल्प (abhikalp). See Design meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use design in a sentence?
- I give it you without any other design than to shew you that I reckon nothing dear to me, when I want to do you a pleasure.
- What part of speech is design?
- Design can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce design?
- Design is pronounced /dɪˈzaɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of design?
- The plural of design is designs.
Words near design in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: design (page history and authors); design (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); নকশা (Bengali) (page history and authors); ഡിസൈൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); design (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); નકશો (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ନକସା (Odia) (page history and authors); कू (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-design.ogg.
Cite this entry: “design.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/design. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.