devolve
See also: devolvé
English
Etymology
Latin dēvolvō (“roll or tumble off or down”), from dē + volvō (“roll”).
Pronunciation
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|lang=
parameter) IPA(key): /dɪˈvɒɫv/
Verb
devolve (third-person singular simple present devolv, present participle ing, simple past and past participle devolved)
- (obsolete, transitive) To roll (something) down; to unroll. [15th-19th c.]
- 1744, Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of the Imagination, II:
- every headlong stream / Devolves its winding waters to the main.
- 1830, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Character:
- He spake of virtue […] And with […] a lack-lustre dead-blue eye, Devolved his rounded periods.
- 1744, Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of the Imagination, II:
- (intransitive) To be inherited by someone else; to pass down upon the next person in a succession, especially through failure or loss of an earlier holder. [from 16th c.]
- 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society 2010, p. 4:
- an accident […] rendered him permanently lame, and therefore unfitted him, in the opinion of his parents, to inherit his father's many titles, which, it was then arranged, should devolve upon his younger brother.
- 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society 2010, p. 4:
- (transitive) To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone. [from 17th c.]
- 1704, Joseph Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy:
- They devolved their whole authority into the hands of the council of sixty.
- 1756, Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful:
- An artful man became popular, the people had power in their hands, and they devolved a considerable share of their power upon their favourite […].
- 1704, Joseph Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy:
- (intransitive) To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone. [from 18th c.]
- 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:, Episode 16:
- For the nonce he was rather nonplussed but inasmuch as the duty plainly devolved upon him to take some measures on the subject he pondered suitable ways and means during which Stephen repeatedly yawned.
- (intransitive) To degenerate; to break down. [from 18th c.]
- A discussion about politics may devolve into a shouting match.
Usage notes
- The verb is sometimes used in the context of biology (in sense 5, "to degenerate; to break down"), but generally not by scientists as it is highly subjective.
Related terms
Translations
to be inherited by someone
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to delegate something to someone else
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Anagrams
Italian
Verb
devolve
Latin
Verb
(deprecated template usage) dēvolve
Portuguese
Verb
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms