Device vs. Apparatus — What's the Difference?

A thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment

The technical equipment or machinery needed for a particular activity or purpose

A plan, method, or trick with a particular aim

The complex structure of a particular organization or system

A drawing or design

A collection of notes, variant readings, and other matter accompanying a printed text

An object designed and manufactured to perform one or more functions.

An appliance or device for a particular purpose

A literary contrivance, such as parallelism or personification, used to achieve a particular effect.

An integrated group of materials or devices used for a particular purpose

A decorative design, figure, or pattern, as one used in embroidery.

The totality of means by which a designated function is performed or a specific task executed, as in a system of government.

A graphic symbol or motto, especially in heraldry.

A political organization or an underground political movement. Also called apparat.

A plan or scheme for accomplishing something

(Physiology) A group or system of organs that collectively perform a specific function or process

Any piece of equipment made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electrical one.

The critical and source material, usually including notes and a glossary, that accompanies a scholarly edition of a text.

(computer hardware) A peripheral device; an item of hardware.

The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished.

A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.

A complex machine or instrument.

(Ireland) An improvised explosive device, home-made bomb

(collective) An assortment of tools and instruments.

(rhetoric) A technique that an author or speaker uses to evoke an emotional response in the audience; a rhetorical device.

A bureaucratic organization, especially one influenced by political patronage.

(heraldry) A motto, emblem, or other mark used to distinguish the bearer from others. A device differs from a badge or cognizance primarily as it is a personal distinction, and not a badge borne by members of the same house successively.

(firefighting) A vehicle used for emergency response.

(archaic) Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

(gymnastics) Any of the equipment on which the gymnasts perform their movements.

(legal) An image used in whole or in part as a trademark or service mark.

(video games) A complex, highly modified weapon (typically not a firearm); a weaponized “Rube Goldberg machine.”

(printing) An image or logo denoting official or proprietary authority or provenience.

Things provided as means to some end.

(obsolete) A spectacle or show.

Hence: A full collection or set of implements, or utensils, for a given duty, experimental or operative; any complex instrument or appliance, mechanical or chemical, for a specific action or operation; machinery; mechanism.

(obsolete) Opinion; decision.

A collection of organs all of which unite in a common function; as, the respiratory apparatus.

That which is devised, or formed by design; a contrivance; an invention; a project; a scheme; often, a scheme to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice.

Equipment designed to serve a specific function

Power of devising; invention; contrivance.

(anatomy) a group of body parts that work together to perform a given function;

An emblematic design, generally consisting of one or more figures with a motto, used apart from heraldic bearings to denote the historical situation, the ambition, or the desire of the person adopting it. See Cognizance.

Anything fancifully conceived.

A spectacle or show.

Opinion; decision.

Any artifactual object designed to perform an action or process, with or without an operator in attendance.

An instrumentality invented for a particular purpose;

Something in an artistic work designed to achieve a particular effect

Any clever (deceptive) maneuver;

Any ornamental pattern or design (as in embroidery)

An emblematic design (especially in heraldry);