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 developmentally
Contemporary Examples
Adolescents at that age are “developmentally more fully formed and able to make their own decisions,” says Dr. Davis.
Newtown Patch reports that Ryan Lanza told a close friend that he thinks his developmentally disabled brother committed the crime.
Carlos DeLuna, who was arrested for the crime, was developmentally disabled and had a low IQ.
And 38 percent of children whose mothers used cocaine while pregnant are developmentally delayed.
Santorum and Palin each have a developmentally disabled child – itself a rare phenomenon in presidential politics.
Historical Examples
Developmentally and histologically there are no fundamental divergences from the teeth of vertebrates lower in the scale.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., MammaliaFrank Evers Beddard
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 developmentally
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.