verb (used with object), e·volved, e·volv·ing.
- to develop gradually: to evolve a scheme.
- to give off or emit, as odors or vapors.
verb (used without object), e·volved, e·volv·ing.
- to come forth gradually into being; develop; undergo evolution: The whole idea evolved from a casual remark.
- to gradually change one’s opinions or beliefs: candidates who are still evolving on the issue; an evolved feminist mom.
- Biology. to develop by a process of evolution to a different adaptive state or condition: The human species evolved from an ancestor that was probably arboreal.
verb
- to develop or cause to develop gradually
- (intr) (of animal or plant species) to undergo evolution
- (tr) to yield, emit, or give off (heat, gas, vapour, etc)
v.1640s, “to unfold, open out, expand,” from Latin evolvere “to unroll,” especially of books; figuratively “to make clear, disclose; to produce, develop,” from ex- “out” (see ex-) + volvere “to roll” (see volvox). Meaning “to develop by natural processes to a higher state” is from 1832. Related: Evolved; evolving.
- To undergo biological evolution, as in the development of new species or new traits within a species.
- To develop a characteristic through the process of evolution.
- To undergo change and development, as the structures of the universe.