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Webster 1913 Edition

Evolve

E-volve′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Evolved
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Evolving
.]
[L.
evolvere
,
evolutum
;
e
out +
volvere
to roll. See
Voluble
.]
1.
To unfold or unroll; to open and expand; to disentangle and exhibit clearly and satisfactorily; to develop; to derive; to educe.
The animal soul sooner
evolves
itself to its full orb and extent than the human soul.
Sir. M. Hale.
The principles which art involves, science alone
evolves
.
Whewell.
Not by any power evolved from man’s own resources, but by a power which descended from above.
J. C. Shairp.
2.
To throw out; to emit;
as, to
evolve
odors
.

E-volve′

,
Verb.
I.
To become open, disclosed, or developed; to pass through a process of evolution.
Prior.

Webster 1828 Edition

Evolve

EVOLVE

,
Verb.
T.
evolv'. [L. evolvo; e and volvo, to roll; Eng. to wallow.]
1.
To unfold; to open and expand.
The animal soul sooner evolves itself to its full orb and extent than the human soul.
2.
To throw out; to emit.

EVOLVE

,
Verb.
I.
To open itself; to disclose itself.

Definition 2024

evolve

evolve

English

Verb

evolve ‎(third-person singular simple present evolves, present participle evolving, simple past and past participle evolved)

  1. To move in regular procession through a system.
    • Sir M. Hale
      The animal soul sooner evolves itself to its full orb and extent than the human soul.
    • William Whewell (1794-1866)
      The principles which art involves, science alone evolves.
    • John Shairp (1819-1885)
      Not by any power evolved from man's own resources, but by a power which descended from above.
  2. To change; transform.
  3. To come into being; develop.
    • 1939, P. G. Wodehouse, Uncle Fred in the Springtime
      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. (biology) Of a population, to change genetic composition over successive generations through the process of evolution.
    • 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, p. 502:
      There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
    • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
      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.
  5. (chemistry) To give off (gas, such as oxygen or carbon dioxide during a reaction).
    to evolve odours‎

Related terms

Translations

Italian

Verb

evolve

  1. third-person singular present indicative of evolvere

Latin

Verb

ēvolve

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of ēvolvō

Portuguese

Verb

evolve

  1. third-person singular present indicative of evolver
  2. second-person singular imperative of evolver

Etymology

From Latin ēvolvere, present active infinitive of ēvolvō ‎(“unroll, unfold”), from ē ‎(“out of”), short form of ex, + volvō ‎(“roll”).

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