development

Definitions

1. 1.(Biol.) The series of changes which animal and vegetable organisms undergo in their passage from the embryonic state to maturity, from a lower to a higher state of organization.
2. 2.(Math.) (a) The act or process of changing or expanding an expression into another of equivalent value or meaning. (b) The equivalent expression into which another has been developed.
3. 3.(mus.) The elaboration of a theme or subject; the unfolding of a musical idea; the evolution of a whole piece or movement from a leading theme or motive. Development theory (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, and that all the higher forms of life now in existence were thus developed by uniform laws from lower forms, and are not the result of special creative acts. See the Note under Darwinian.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "development" mean?
• What is another word for "development"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is development.

• What is the series of changes which animal and vegetable organisms undergo in their passage from the embryonic state to maturity, from a lower to a higher state of organization called?
• What is (a) The act or process of changing or expanding an expression into another of equivalent value or meaning. (b) The equivalent expression into which another has been developed called?