Christopher LaneBarbara EhrenreichFrank Deford
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The Evolution of Devolve
Evolve? Check. Revolve? Check. Devolve? Now we’re on a roll—literally. All three of these words (and more) evolved from the Latin verb volvere, meaning "to set in a circular course, to cause to roll, to bring round." Latin ēvolvere means "to roll out or away"; Latin revolvere means "to roll back to a starting point"; and Latin dēvolvere means "to roll (something) down." In its earliest uses in the 15th century, devolve was about literally rolling down: it meant "to roll onward or downward." Today the word is typically about a more figurative rolling down, as when an organization devolves power—that is, passes power down—to those at a lower level of authority, or when a deteriorating situation is described as "devolving into chaos." One word, multiple uses. That's just how English rolls.
Synonyms
Examples of devolve in a Sentence
Tess Riski, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2024
Da Vinci’s death, like the fall of Bakhmut, a couple of months later, reflected a grim shift in the war, which has devolved into an attritional grind with catastrophic losses on both sides.
—Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Initially heralded as a visionary deal, the $350 billion merger—which remains the largest in American corporate history—quickly devolved, costing investors billions and many employees their retirement savings.
—Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
The film featured the stars as two women who take on a road trip that devolves into a crime spree.
—Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 18 Mar. 2024
The hunt for Middleton has now devolved into amateur sleuthing and conspiracy theories—a drama playing out with every apparent new princess sighting.
—Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2024
This part of the movie, in which cross-cultural miscommunication devolves into mayhem, doesn’t really work.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Advertisement That wondrous postcard had devolved into a portrait of disillusionment, two die-hards wondering how something so historic could turn so ugly so quickly.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
The latest Disney-Trian contest devolved into one of the largest, priciest and nastiest in history.
—Brooks Barnes, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'devolve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near devolve
Cite this Entry
“Devolve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devolve. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
devolve
intransitive verb
U.S. Constitution art. IIMedieval Latin devolvi, passive of devolvere to roll down, from Latin, from de down, away + volvere to roll
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