development
[dih-vel-uh p-muh nt]
- the act or process of developing; growth; progress: child development; economic development.
- a significant consequence or event: recent developments in the field of science.
- a developed or advanced state or form: Drama reached its highest development in the plays of Shakespeare.
- 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.
- 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.
- Chess. the act or process of developing chess pieces.
- 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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Origin of development
Synonyms
See more synonyms for development on Thesaurus.com1. expansion, elaboration, growth, evolution; unfolding, opening, maturing, maturation. 3. maturity, ripeness. 5. community, subdivision.
Antonyms
1. deterioration, disintegration.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for developmental
Contemporary Examples
But by and large I go over the same things for every developmental stage.
Kids Eat the Darndest Things: Laundry Pods, Teething Necklaces, and More Of The Weirdest Stuff Sending Kids to the E.R.Russell Saunders
November 14, 2014
What kind of employers hire people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)?
Hiring People With Disabilities Isn’t Just the Right Thing to Do—It’s Good for BusinessElizabeth Picciuto
October 27, 2014
Essentially he is arguing that there are functional trade-offs in developmental biology.
By the standards of Syndrome Z, her developmental progress is remarkable.
According to Sarah and Mark, she is 40 and has a developmental age of about 14.
Historical Examples
They are devised for disciplinary, postural, developmental, and health purposes.
College TeachingPaul Klapper
The developmental period was 30-41 days at room temperature.
The Biotic Associations of CockroachesLouis M. Roth
I do not call the upholder of the developmental doctrine a believer of this kind.
OpusculaRobert Gordon Latham
In fact, it is a developmental sequence, like that from the grub to the butterfly.
A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisSigmund Freud
Neutral, because his efforts were conserving, not developmental.
Blue GooseFrank Lewis Nason
development
- the act or process of growing, progressing, or developing
- the product or result of developing
- a fact, event, or happening, esp one that changes a situation
- an area or tract of land that has been developed
- Also called: development section the section of a movement, usually in sonata form, in which the basic musical themes are developed
- 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
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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
Word Origin and History for developmental
adj.
1849, from development + -al (1). Developmentalist (1862) was a word for "follower of the theory of evolution."
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development
n.
1756, "an unfolding;" see develop + -ment. Of property, with the sense "bringing out the latent possibilities," from 1885 (Pickering's glossary of Americanisms, 1816, has betterments "The improvements made on new lands, by cultivation, and the erection of buildings, &c."). Meaning "state of economic advancement" is from 1902. Meaning "advancement through progressive stages" is 1836.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
development
(dĭ-vĕl′əp-mənt)- The act of developing.
- The state of being developed.
- A significant event, occurrence, or change.
- The natural progression from a previous, simpler, or embryonic stage to a later, more complex, or adult stage.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.