Definition
Capable of being transferred by will. Property is devisable when it is legally eligible to pass from a decedent to a beneficiary through a testamentary instrument. The term most commonly appears in discussions of real property, historically the exclusive subject of a "devise," though modern usage extends to personal property as well.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "That can be devised or invented" / "Capable of being bequeathed, or given by will."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Capable of being devised, invented, or contrived" / "Capable of being bequeathed, or given by will."
The gap matters. In ordinary English, "devise" still carries the sense of inventing or scheming — "she devised a plan." In legal usage, the word is stripped entirely of that creative meaning and refers only to testamentary transfer. A researcher encountering "devisable" in a legal source should not import any ordinary-language connotation of ingenuity or contrivance. The legal meaning is purely transactional.
Common Confusion
DEVISABLE vs. ALIENABLE vs. DESCENDIBLE: These three terms describe distinct modes of property transfer and are not interchangeable. Alienable property can be transferred by the owner during life (inter vivos). Descendible property passes automatically by operation of law through intestate succession. Devisable property specifically passes by will. Some property interests are all three; others are one or two but not the rest. A life estate, for example, is neither devisable nor descendible because it terminates at the holder's death, though it may be alienable in some jurisdictions. Conflating these terms in historical research produces serious errors.
Why It Matters in Research
Devisable is a term of classification, not a term of action. Researchers encounter it most often in property law treatises and early English authorities sorting which interests could and could not pass by will — a categorization that carried enormous practical consequences before modern statutes equalized treatment of real and personal property.
The historical distinction between real and personal property matters here. Under early English common law and the Statute of Wills (1540), devise applied strictly to real property; bequeath applied to personal property. "Devisable" therefore appeared almost exclusively in discussions of freehold estates. Researchers working in pre-twentieth-century American sources should carry that distinction forward: an older treatise asking whether something is "devisable" is almost certainly asking about real property specifically.
The modern uniform acts and state statutes have largely collapsed the real/personal distinction for testamentary purposes, meaning "devisable" in contemporary sources is broader than it was historically. This creates a reading hazard: the same word in an 1850 treatise and a 2005 statute may be doing different work.
Watch for the interaction with future interests, restraints on alienation, and statutory spendthrift provisions. Whether a particular interest is devisable often depends on whether it has vested, whether it is subject to a condition, and whether controlling legislation restricts testamentary transfer. The term alone tells the researcher nothing about those qualifications — it signals a question that must be answered by looking at the underlying property interest.
Corpus researchers should also note that devisable appears as a predicate adjective in standard property law formulations ("the interest is devisable, descendible, and alienable") that function almost as checklists in treatise literature. Searching for those collocations can surface relevant doctrine efficiently.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three historical sources — Black's (1st ed.), Black's (2nd ed.), and Burrill's — are in complete agreement and effectively identical: "capable of being devised." All three cite the same two authorities: Powell on Devises (vol. 1, p. 165) and Blackstone's Commentaries (vol. 2, p. 373). The uniformity is notable; it suggests the term was treated as settled and uncontroversial in the period these dictionaries were compiled.
What the historical entries do not address is the real/personal property distinction discussed above, nor do they flag that devisability depends on the nature of the interest held, not merely the category of property. A fee simple absolute in land is devisable; a bare license is not; the dictionaries' spare definition leaves that entire analytical layer to other entries and treatises. Burrill's and both Black's editions are citing the same underlying authorities, so any researcher who checks Powell or Blackstone directly will find richer treatment than any of the dictionaries provide.
Jurisdictional Note
Most U.S. jurisdictions have eliminated or significantly reduced common-law distinctions between devise and bequest by statute, treating all testamentary transfers under a unified framework. The Uniform Probate Code uses "devise" to cover both real and personal property. Researchers working in states that have not adopted the UPC should verify whether the real/personal distinction survives in local law.