Meaning

7 senses
  1. (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.

    переходи́тьperexodítʹ

  2. (transitive)To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone.

    Near-synonyms: pass down, pass on, hand down

    übergeben

    передава́тьperedavátʹ

  3. To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone.

    (especially, transitive, usually)To transfer authority and responsibility for (something) to (another entity).

    Despite being a unitary state, the Government of the United Kingdom devolved many matters to the Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  4. (intransitive)To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone.

  5. To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone.

    (especially, intransitive)To shift or to be transferred from a central government to a local one, a federal one to a federated one, etc.

    Many legislative powers devolved to the new Scottish parliament in 1999.

  6. (intransitive)To degenerate; to break down.

    A discussion about politics may devolve into a shouting match.

  7. (obsolete, transitive)To roll (something) down; to unroll.

    Near-synonyms: unwind, unfurl

More definitions
  • grow progressively worse
  • pass on or delegate to another
  • be inherited by

Examples

9 sentences
  1. Yanni's apology quickly devolved into another argument.

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  2. Yanni's apology devolved into a physical argument.

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  3. Yanni's apologies often devolve into physical altercations.

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  4. Yanni's apology quickly devolved into another yelling session.

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  5. American schools have devolved into mere daycare centers.

    deAmerikanische Schulen sind zu bloßen Tagesstätten verkommen.

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Translations

4 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to be inherited by someone:
to delegate something to someone else:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to delegate something to someone else:

Origin

Borrowed from Latin dēvolvō (“roll or tumble off or down”), from dē- + volvō (“roll”).

Borrowed from Latin dēvolvō (“roll or tumble off or down”), from dē- + volvō (“roll”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

devolves, devolving, devolved, devolved
Base formdevolve · to devolve
3rd person singulardevolves
Present participledevolving
Past simpledevolved
Past participledevolved

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydevolve
he, she, itdevolves

Past simpleLesson

all personsdevolved

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave devolved
he, she, ithas devolved

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill devolve

Synonyms

46 synonyms

Antonyms

2 antonyms

Word family

6 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
devolve — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto