development

[ dih-vel-uhp-muhnt ]
See synonyms for: developmentdevelopments on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the act or process of developing; growth; progress: child development; economic development.

  2. a significant consequence or event: recent developments in the field of science.

  1. a developed or advanced state or form: Drama reached its highest development in the plays of Shakespeare.

  2. Music. the part of a movement or composition in which a theme or themes are developed, or unfolded and elaborated, by various technical means, so as to reveal their inherent possibilities.

  3. a large group of private houses or of apartment houses, often of similar design, constructed as a unified community, especially by a real-estate developer or government organization.

  4. Chess. the act or process of developing chess pieces.

  5. Mining. the work of digging openings, as tunnels, raises, and winzes, to give access to new workings, and of erecting necessary structures.

Origin of development

1
First recorded in 1745–55; develop + -ment, or from French développement

Other words for development

Opposites for development

Other words from development

  • de·vel·op·men·tal, de·vel·op·men·ta·ry, adjective
  • de·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverb
  • an·ti·de·vel·op·ment, adjective
  • hy·per·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • hy·per·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjective
  • non·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • non·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjective
  • non·de·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverb
  • post·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjective
  • pre·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • self-de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • sub·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • su·per·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • un·de·vel·op·ment, noun
  • un·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjective
  • un·de·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby development

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use development in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for development

development

/ (dɪˈvɛləpmənt) /


noun
  1. the act or process of growing, progressing, or developing

  2. the product or result of developing

  1. a fact, event, or happening, esp one that changes a situation

  2. an area or tract of land that has been developed

  3. Also called: development section the section of a movement, usually in sonata form, in which the basic musical themes are developed

  4. chess

    • the process of developing pieces

    • the manner in which they are developed

    • the position of the pieces in the early part of a game with reference to their attacking potential or defensive efficiency

Derived forms of development

  • developmental, adjective
  • developmentally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012