devise levise (deviz)

[A former spelling of device; legal senses due to the verb devise: see vice, n., devise, v.] 1ł (dē-vis'). An obsolete spelling of device.-2. In law: (a) The act of bequeathing by will. The alienation is made by devise in a last will only, and the third part of these profits is there demandable. Locke . (b) A will or testament. (c) A gift of real property by will: sometimes loosely used of personal property. A gift by will of freehold land, or of such rights arising out of or connected with land as are by English law cla ed with it as real property, is called a devise . F. Pollock , Land Laws, p. 124. (d) The clause in a will by which such gift is made. - Executory devise, a future and contingent interest in real property in contravention of the strict rules of the old common law; a future interest, created by will, which is not preceded by an estate of freehold created by the will of the same testator, or which, being so preceded, is limited to take effect before or after, and not at the expiration of, such prior estate of freehold. Jarman; Brown and Hadley.