evolve
//ɪˈvɒlv//
Forms
- present (v1)
- evolve
- past (v2)
- evolved
- past participle (v3)
- evolved
- present participle
- evolving
- 3rd person singular
- evolves
Definitions
1.To move (something) in regular procession through a system.
2.To change or transform (something).
- Over several years the author evolved the story originally drafted as a novella into a real epic.
3.To cause (something) to come into being or develop.
- The interpreter has spent a whole lot of time working the music before the performance, trying to evolve the most accurate translation possible.
- You will remove the pig, place it in the car, and drive it to my house in Wiltshire. That is the plan I have evolved.
4.Of a population: to acquire or develop (a trait) in the process of biological evolution.
- How long ago did birds evolve beaks?
- Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2808
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”)
From ē- (“out of”) (short form of ex) + volvō (“roll”).