development
noun
Simple meaning
A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihvehluhpmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈvɛləpmənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)
“The development of his ideas took many years.”
A district that has been developed to serve some purpose
“Such land is practical for small park developments.”
uncountable
The process of developing; growth, directed change.
uncountable
The application of new ideas to practical problems.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)
Used this way, development is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The development of his ideas took many years.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “development of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- maturation , a specialist term, precise but narrower
- growth , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Natural pattern: development of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Passesnoun
“The development of his ideas took many years.”
Districtnoun
“Such land is practical for small park developments.”
More ways to use development
- “The development of his ideas took many years.”noun
- “After he saw the latest development he changed his mind and became a supporter.”noun
- “He congratulated them on their development of a plan to meet the emergency.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone who develops real estate (especially someone who prepares a site for residential or commercial use).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The United States federal department that administers federal programs dealing with better housing and urban renewal.
A residential area of similar dwellings built by property developers and usually under a single management.
A United Nations agency created to assist developing nations by loans guaranteed by member governments.
An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.
Making an area of land more useful.
Improving an existing product or developing new kinds of products.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to or constituting development.
With respect to development.
A measure of a child's development (in body size or motor skill or psychological function) expressed in terms of age norms.
The branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children.
Learning that takes place as a normal part of cognitive development.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.