development

American  

[dih-vel-uhp-muhnt] / dɪˈvɛl əp mənt /

noun

1. the act or process of developing; growth; progress.

   child development; economic development.

   Synonyms:

   maturation, opening, evolution, growth, elaboration, expansion

   Antonyms:

   disintegration, deterioration

2. a significant consequence or event.

   recent developments in the field of science.

3. a developed or advanced state or form.

   Drama reached its highest development in the plays of Shakespeare.

   Synonyms:

   ripeness, maturity

4. 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.

5. 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.

   Synonyms:

   subdivision, community

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

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

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development British  

/ dɪˈvɛləpmənt /

noun

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

2. the product or result of developing

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

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

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

6. chess

   1. the process of developing pieces

   2. the manner in which they are developed

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

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Other Word Forms

• antidevelopment adjective
• developmental adjective
• developmentally adverb
• developmentary adjective
• hyperdevelopment noun
• hyperdevelopmental adjective
• nondevelopment noun
• nondevelopmental adjective
• nondevelopmentally adverb
• postdevelopmental adjective
• predevelopment noun
• self-development noun
• subdevelopment noun
• superdevelopment noun
• undevelopment noun
• undevelopmental adjective
• undevelopmentally adverb

Etymology

Origin of development

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

Example Sentences

The fund recognizes the importance of the developments and will analyze the economic implications, she said, adding there will be more on this topic in upcoming IMF reports: “So, stay tuned.”

From The Wall Street Journal

For Epstein, money was the primary means to infiltrate cash-hungry academic institutions, which can employ hundreds of people in their development offices.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Lake District National Park Authority's head of development management, Andrew Smith, agrees the current tools it has are "quite limited" and school populations continue to decline.

From BBC

He is also head of product development at the firm’s data intelligence group.

From The Wall Street Journal

He mentioned bombing Iran’s nuclear sites last year and said negotiations against future weapons development are ongoing.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• advancement
• evolution
• expansion
• improvement
• increase
• progress