noun
- the act or fact of devolving; passage onward from stage to stage.
- the passing on to a successor of an unexercised right.
- Law. the passing of property from one to another, as by hereditary succession.
- Biology. degeneration.
- the transfer of power or authority from a central government to a local government.
noun
- the act, fact, or result of devolving
- a passing onwards or downwards from one stage to another
- another word for degeneration (def. 3)
- a transfer or allocation of authority, esp from a central government to regional governments or particular interests
1540s; see de- + evolution. Used in various legal and figurative senses; in biology, as the opposite of evolution, it is attested from 1882.