developer

American  

[dih-vel-uh-per] / dɪˈvɛl ə pər /

noun

developers plural

1. a person or thing that develops or innovates.

   a software developer.

2. Photography. a reducing agent or solution for developing a film or the like.

3. a person who invests in and develops the urban or suburban potentialities of real estate, especially by subdividing the land into home sites and then building houses and selling them.

4. Shipbuilding. a person who lays out at full size the lines of a vessel and prepares templates from them.

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developer British  

/ dɪˈvɛləpə /

noun

1. a person or thing that develops something, esp a person who develops property

2. photog a solution of a chemical reducing agent that converts the latent image recorded in the emulsion of a film or paper into a visible image

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• developers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of developer

First recorded in 1825–35; develop + -er ¹

Example Sentences

The developer ditched flashy finishes for stone, wood and mature plantings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026

Maté, a freelance business developer, benefits from tax cuts.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026

Earlier this year, the AI developer clashed with the Pentagon over the use of its technology for military and surveillance purposes.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026

“The cost per token on Fable 5… can very quickly consume relatively large developer budgets,” wrote New Street Research analyst Dan Salmon in a research note.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026

The developer had even started running pipes across National Park land in the confident—but, as it happened, mistaken—presumption that the Park Service wouldn’t have the will or money to stop him.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• builder
• planner