development

[ dih-vel-uhp-muhnt ]
See synonyms for development 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

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

How to use development in a sentence

  • This epoch-making invention, introduced in 1832, rendered possible extraordinary developments.

  • The great mass of the nation, however, was waiting for more definite developments.

    King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison
  • These Cupids must have been erected in the time of the Dutch dynasty, as I judge from the immense posterior developments.

    Little Travels and Roadside Sketches | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • I understand now, but I did not then, full of expectation as I was for developments out of the ordinary.

    The Staircase At The Hearts Delight | Anna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs)
  • The Homestead developments had given him temporary prominence, thrown this particular hydra-head into bold relief, so to speak.

    Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman

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