devolve

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English devolven,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin dēvolvō (“to roll down”),^[5][4][6][7] from dē- (“down”) and volvō (“to roll”),^[5][4][7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn, revolve”).^[4][9] The American Heritage Dictionary routes the word through Old French devolver (“to confer, ascribe”),^[9] while the OED only compares Middle French devolver, found once in the 14th century, and Italian devolvere (“to transfer a benefice, goods or rights”).^[5] In Latin the verb meant "to roll down" and, in the passive, "to fall down, sink back"; from the 2nd century AD it also meant "to fall or pass to", and in the Latin of medieval Britain it was used of a kingdom, an inheritance or an authority being handed on.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To transfer a thing from one place to another: about 1440, in the Middle English translation of Palladius, in the line And thenne hem to the pressis they deuolue.^[2][5] Barnhart and Etymonline gloss this first use as "to roll down",^[3][4] and the 1989 edition of the OED gave that sense from about 1420.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The Latin verb had already moved from rolling to handing on, and English took up that use within a few decades.^[5] From 1494 it meant to refer or delegate a duty to someone else, which Etymonline dates to the 1520s.^[5][4] From 1534 it also meant to transfer property or a right as the consequence of a rule or process.^[5] Inheritance and legal succession followed by the mid-16th century.^[5][8] The intransitive use, of power or a duty passing to another, is recorded from 1658,^[5] although Etymonline dates "be transferred" to the 1550s.^[4] Meanwhile the physical sense lived on in learned writing: Johnson (1755) gave "to roll down" first and "to move from one hand to another" second,^[11] and the Shorter Oxford quotes De Quincey for it.^[8] Today it is archaic.^[6][12] A sense of overturning or knocking down lasted from 1543 to 1658.^[5] The word became a term of politics, for a central government passing powers to regional bodies,^[5][13][14] and Weekley noted the same use of devolution, "decentralization".^[15] The meaning "to degenerate" is recorded by 1830,^[4] and modern dictionaries now list it.^[13][9]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – to transfer a thing from one place to another (now obsolete).^[5][2]
• 1494 – to refer or delegate a duty to another.^[5]
• 1534 – to transfer property or a right as a consequence of a rule or process.^[5]
• 1543 – to overturn, overthrow (obsolete by 1658).^[5][2]
• before 1552 – of land or a title, to pass by inheritance or legal succession.^[5]
• 1583 – of knowledge or tradition, to pass on as if by inheritance.^[5]
• 1587 – to direct blame or punishment at someone (obsolete by 1682).^[5]
• 1658 – intransitive, of power or a duty, to pass to another.^[5]
• 1830 – to degenerate.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hand over or delegate duties or power to another, especially from a central government to a regional or local body: The ministry devolved control of its schools to the provinces.^[13][6][5]
2. Of a duty or power, to pass to another or fall upon them: When the director resigned, her work devolved on her deputy.^[12][9][5]
3. (law) Of property, to pass to another by inheritance or legal succession, especially on intestacy or bankruptcy.^[12][13][5]
4. To degenerate or decline step by step, with into: The meeting devolved into petty quarrels.^[13][9]
5. To depend, with on or upon: The whole case devolves on one signature.^[12]
6. (archaic) To roll down or onward.^[6][12][9]
7. (obsolete, 1543–1658) To overturn or overthrow.^[5][8]

Word family

• devolvement

Related words

• devolution
• revolve
• evolve
• involve
• volume
• voluble

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d e Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
15. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray