evolve

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   undergo development or evolution

   Human cultures have evolved over time.

2. 2
   verb

   To move (something) in regular procession through a system.

   The animal soul sooner expands and evolves it self to its full orb and extent than the humane Soul

3. 3
   verb

   To change or transform (something).

   Over several years the author evolved the story originally drafted as a novella into a real epic.

4. 4
   verb

   To cause (something) to come into being or develop.

   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.

5. 5
   verb

   Of a population: to acquire or develop (a trait) in the process of biological evolution.

   How long ago did birds evolve beaks?

6. 6
   verb

   To cause (a population, a species, etc.) to change genetic composition over successive generations through the process of evolution.

   A hundred thousand years from now, will Homo sapiens have evolved into beings unrecognizable to their ancestors?

7. 7
   verb

   To give off (a gas such as carbon dioxide or oxygen) during a chemical reaction.

   to evolve odours

8. 8
   verb

   To wind or unwind (something).

   And come, my Muſe! that lov'ſt the ſylvan ſhade, / Evolve the mazes, and the miſt diſpel; / Tranſlate the ſong; convince my doubting maid / No ſolemn Derviſe can explain ſo vvell— […]

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”), from ē- (“out of”) (short form of ex) + volvō (“roll”).