verb
- Pass on or delegate to another.
- usage: "The representative devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital"
- Be inherited by.
- usage: "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"
- Grow worse.
- usage: "Her condition deteriorated"; "Conditions in the slums degenerated"; "The discussion devolved into a shouting match"
- synonyms: deteriorate, drop, degenerate
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). Devolve. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/devolve/definitions/1270170 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "Devolve" http://smartdefine.org/devolve/definitions/1270170 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, Devolve, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/devolve/definitions/1270170>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "Devolve" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/devolve/definitions/1270170> |