Word of the Day

: January 21, 2008

devolve

verb dih-VAHLV

What It Means

1 a : to pass by transmission or succession

b : to fall or be passed usually as a responsibility or obligation

2 : to come by or as if by flowing down

3 : to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution

devolve in Context

Our book club's discussions used to be thought-provoking literary debates, but lately they've devolved into gossip sessions.

Did You Know?

"Devolve" evolved from a combination of Latin "volvere," a word that means "to roll," and the prefix "de-," meaning "down." (Other words that revolve around "volvere" are the five other words containing "-vol-" found in this paragraph.) Knowing which preposition to use with "devolve" can seem a bit involved, but it's really not all that convoluted. Responsibility or rights devolve "on," "upon," or "to" someone. When something comes into a present state by flowing down from a source, either literally or figuratively, we say "devolve from," as in "customs that devolve from old beliefs." And when the devolving is a downward evolution to a lower state we say "devolves into" (or sometimes "devolves to"), as in "order devolves into chaos."