devolve : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: devolve	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for devolve
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
devolve v pass on or delegate to another; "The representative devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital" be inherited by; "The estate fell to my sister"; "The land returned to the family"; "The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead" Synonym(s): fall, return, pass, devolve grow worse; "Her condition deteriorated"; "Conditions in the slums degenerated"; "The discussion devolved into a shouting match" Synonym(s): devolve, deteriorate, drop, degenerate Antonym(s): convalesce, recover, recuperate
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Devolve \De*volve"\, v. i. To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or down; -- generally with on or upon, sometimes with to or into; as, after the general fell, the command devolved upon (or on) the next officer in rank. His estate . . . devolved to Lord Somerville. --Johnson.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Devolve \De*volve"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Devolved}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Devolving}.] [L. devolvere, devolutum, to roll down; de + volvere to roll down; de + volvere to roll. See {Voluble}.] 1. To roll onward or downward; to pass on. Every headlong stream Devolves its winding waters to the main. --Akenside. Devolved his rounded periods. --Tennyson. 2. To transfer from one person to another; to deliver over; to hand down; -- generally with upon, sometimes with to or into. They devolved a considerable share of their power upon their favorite. --Burke. They devolved their whole authority into the hands of the council of sixty. --Addison.