development

[ dih-vel-uhp-muhnt ]

/ dɪˈvɛl əp mənt /

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See synonyms for: development / developments on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR development

1 expansion, elaboration, growth, evolution; unfolding, opening, maturing, maturation.

3 maturity, ripeness.

5 community, subdivision.

See synonyms for development on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR development

1 deterioration, disintegration.

See antonyms for development on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of development

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

OTHER WORDS FROM development

de·vel·op·men·tal, de·vel·op·men·ta·ry, adjectivede·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverban·ti·de·vel·op·ment, adjectivehy·per·de·vel·op·ment, noun

hy·per·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjectivenon·de·vel·op·ment, nounnon·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjectivenon·de·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverbpost·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjectivepre·de·vel·op·ment, nounself-de·vel·op·ment, nounsub·de·vel·op·ment, nounsu·per·de·vel·op·ment, nounun·de·vel·op·ment, nounun·de·vel·op·men·tal, adjectiveun·de·vel·op·men·tal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use development in a sentence

Luminar has had a development agreement with Mobileye for nearly two years now.
Mobileye taps Luminar to supply lidar for its robotaxi fleet|Kirsten Korosec|November 20, 2020|TechCrunch
The development of a vaccine for a new disease in less than a year has shattered all records, yet it won’t come soon enough to intercept the current winter wave of covid-19 cases in the US and Europe, where infections have reached an all-time high.
Pfizer wants authorization to start distributing its vaccine by Christmas|Antonio Regalado|November 20, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Davies shows how the development of CRISPR resulted from the contributions of many individuals.
With CRISPR, humans can create their own evolutionary future|Adrian Woolfson|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Since then, vaccines have saved tens of millions of lives, but the pace of development can be glacial.
It might not always take years to develop vaccines|Ula Chrobak|November 19, 2020|Popular-Science

The deal, announced Monday, is an undisclosed multi-year agreement with no set cadence for product development.
NBCUniversal and Volition Beauty sign multi-year deal to co-create products|Emma Sandler|November 19, 2020|Digiday
Adolescents at that age are “developmentally more fully formed and able to make their own decisions,” says Dr. Davis.
Is Your Kid’s Coach Too Mean?|Michele Willens|April 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Newtown Patch reports that Ryan Lanza told a close friend that he thinks his developmentally disabled brother committed the crime.
What We Know So Far About Connecticut School Shooter Adam Lanza|Kevin Fallon|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Carlos DeLuna, who was arrested for the crime, was developmentally disabled and had a low IQ.
10 Shocking Bits From Book About How Texas Executed an Innocent Man|Ben Jacobs|May 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And 38 percent of children whose mothers used cocaine while pregnant are developmentally delayed.
15 Signs You'll Raise a Genius|Anneli Rufus|October 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Santorum and Palin each have a developmentally disabled child – itself a rare phenomenon in presidential politics.
Republican Candidates' Baby Boom|Jill Lawrence|June 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
These are the restless ones whom we cannot discourage developmentally as easily as the others.
The Genius|Con Pederson
Developmentally and histologically there are no fundamental divergences from the teeth of vertebrates lower in the scale.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for development

development

/ (dɪˈvɛləpmənt) /

noun

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

Derived forms of development

developmental, adjectivedevelopmentally, 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

development

OTHER WORDS FOR development

OPPOSITES FOR development

Origin of development

OTHER WORDS FROM development

Words related to development

How to use development in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for development

Derived forms of development