n. [ LL. devolutio: cf. F. dévolution. ] 1. The act of rolling down. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The devolution of earth down upon the valleys. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Transference from one person to another; a passing or devolving upon a successor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The devolution of the crown through a . . . channel known and conformable to old constitutional requisitions. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. evolutio an unrolling: cf. F. évolution evolution. See Evolve. ] 1. The act of unfolding or unrolling; hence, any process of growth or development; as, the evolution of a flower from a bud, or an animal from the egg. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A series of things unrolled or unfolded. “The whole evolution of ages.” Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geom.) The formation of an involute by unwrapping a thread from a curve as an evolute. Hutton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Arith. & Alg.) The extraction of roots; -- the reverse of involution. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mil. & Naval) A prescribed movement of a body of troops, or a vessel or fleet; any movement designed to effect a new arrangement or disposition; a maneuver. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those evolutions are best which can be executed with the greatest celerity, compatible with regularity. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Biol.) A general name for the history of the steps by which any living organism has acquired the morphological and physiological characters which distinguish it; a gradual unfolding of successive phases of growth or development. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Biol.) That theory of generation which supposes the germ to preëxist in the parent, and its parts to be developed, but not actually formed, by the procreative act; -- opposed to epigenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Metaph.) That series of changes under natural law which involves continuous progress from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous in structure, and from the single and simple to the diverse and manifold in quality or function. The process is by some limited to organic beings; by others it is applied to the inorganic and the psychical. It is also applied to explain the existence and growth of institutions, manners, language, civilization, and every product of human activity. The agencies and laws of the process are variously explained by different philosophrs. [ 1913 Webster ]

Evolution is to me series with development. Gladstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to evolution. “Evolutional changes.” H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to evolution; as, evolutionary discussions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The theory of, or belief in, evolution. See Evolution, 6 and 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One skilled in evolutions. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who holds the doctrine of evolution, either in biology or in metaphysics. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The changes in the methods of production as well as the resulting changes in economic and social organization accompanying the replacement of hand labor by power-driven machinery. It started in England in about 1760, and spread to other countries with very varying time lags. The introduction of powered machinery such as the steam engine and power loom led to the concentration of large areas of manufacturing in large companies, and made some goods more plentiful and cheaper by mechanical production and economies of scale. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. révolution, L. revolutio. See Revolve. ] 1. The act of revolving, or turning round on an axis or a center; the motion of a body round a fixed point or line; rotation; as, the revolution of a wheel, of a top, of the earth on its axis, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Return to a point before occupied, or to a point relatively the same; a rolling back; return; as, revolution in an ellipse or spiral. [ 1913 Webster ]

That fear
Comes thundering back, with dreadful revolution,
On my defenseless head. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The space measured by the regular return of a revolving body; the period made by the regular recurrence of a measure of time, or by a succession of similar events. “The short revolution of a day.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Astron.) The motion of any body, as a planet or satellite, in a curved line or orbit, until it returns to the same point again, or to a point relatively the same; -- designated as the annual, anomalistic, nodical, sidereal, or tropical revolution, according as the point of return or completion has a fixed relation to the year, the anomaly, the nodes, the stars, or the tropics; as, the revolution of the earth about the sun; the revolution of the moon about the earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The term is sometimes applied in astronomy to the motion of a single body, as a planet, about its own axis, but this motion is usually called rotation. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Geom.) The motion of a point, line, or surface about a point or line as its center or axis, in such a manner that a moving point generates a curve, a moving line a surface (called a surface of revolution), and a moving surface a solid (called a solid of revolution); as, the revolution of a right-angled triangle about one of its sides generates a cone; the revolution of a semicircle about the diameter generates a sphere. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A total or radical change; as, a revolution in one's circumstances or way of living. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ability . . . of the great philosopher speedily produced a complete revolution throughout the department. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Politics) A fundamental change in political organization, or in a government or constitution; the overthrow or renunciation of one government, and the substitution of another, by the governed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The violence of revolutions is generally proportioned to the degree of the maladministration which has produced them. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When used without qualifying terms, the word is often applied specifically, by way of eminence, to: (a) The English Revolution in 1689, when William of Orange and Mary became the reigning sovereigns, in place of James II. (b) The American Revolution, beginning in 1775, by which the English colonies, since known as the United States, secured their independence. (c) The revolution in France in 1789, commonly called the French Revolution, the subsequent revolutions in that country being designated by their dates, as the Revolution of 1830, of 1848, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A revolutionist. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Dumfries was a Tory town, and could not tolerate a revolutionary. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. révolutionnaire. ] Of or pertaining to a revolution in government; tending to, or promoting, revolution; as, revolutionary war; revolutionary measures; revolutionary agitators. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is engaged in effecting a revolution; a revolutionist. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being in revolution; revolutionary doctrines or principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One engaged in effecting a change of government; a favorer of revolution. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Revolutioniezed p. pr. & vb. n. Revolutionizing ] To change completely, as by a revolution; as, to revolutionize a government. Ames. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gospel . . . has revolutionized his soul. J. M. Mason. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Evolution of one's self; development by inherent quality or power. [ 1913 Webster ]