devolve Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb pass on or delegate to another
    • The representative devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital
  2. verb be inherited by
    pass; return; fall.
    • The estate fell to my sister
    • The land returned to the family
    • The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead
  3. verb grow worse
    drop; degenerate; deteriorate.
    • Her condition deteriorated
    • Conditions in the slums degenerated
    • The discussion devolved into a shouting match

WordNet

De*volve" transitive verb
Etymology
L. devolvere, devolutum, to roll down; de + volvere to roll down; de + volvere to roll. See Voluble.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Devolved ; present participle & verbal noun Devolving
Definitions
  1. To roll onward or downward; to pass on.
    Every headlong stream Devolves its winding waters to the main. Akenside.
    Devolved his rounded periods. Tennyson.
  2. To transfer from one person to another; to deliver over; to hand down; -- generally with upon, sometimes with to or into.
    They devolved a considerable share of their power upon their favorite. Burke.
    They devolved their whole authority into the hands of the council of sixty. Addison.
De*volve" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or down; -- generally with on or upon, sometimes with to or into; as, after the general fell, the command devolved upon (or on) the next officer in rank.
    His estate . . . devolved to Lord Somerville. Johnson.

Webster 1913