n. [ Cf. F. développement. ] [ Written also developement. ] 1. The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown; a gradual unfolding process by which anything is developed, as a plan or method, or an image upon a photographic plate; gradual advancement or growth through a series of progressive changes; also, the result of developing, or a developed state. [ 1913 Webster ]

A new development of imagination, taste, and poetry. Channing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The series of changes which animal and vegetable organisms undergo in their passage from the embryonic state to maturity, from a lower to a higher state of organization. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Math.) (a) The act or process of changing or expanding an expression into another of equivalent value or meaning. (b) The equivalent expression into which another has been developed. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mus.) The elaboration of a theme or subject; the unfolding of a musical idea; the evolution of a whole piece or movement from a leading theme or motive. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A tract of land on which a number of buildings have been constructed; -- especially used for tract on which from two to hundreds of houses have been constructed by a commercial developer{ 4 } for sale to individuals. [ PJC ]

Development theory (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, and that all the higher forms of life now in existence were thus developed by uniform laws from lower forms, and are not the result of special creative acts. See the Note under Darwinian.

Syn. -- Unfolding; disclosure; unraveling; evolution; elaboration; growth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characteristic of, the process of development; as, the developmental power of a germ. Carpenter. [ 1913 Webster ]