EVOLUTION

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)

Example:

the slow development of her skill as a writer

Synonyms:

development; evolution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("evolution" is a kind of...):

physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "evolution"):

assibilation (the development of a consonant phoneme into a sibilant)

deepening (a process of becoming deeper and more profound)

growth (a progression from simpler to more complex forms)

flowering; unfolding (a developmental process)

Antonym:

devolution (the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality)

Derivation:

evolve (undergo development or evolution)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(biology) the sequence of events involved in the evolutionary development of a species or taxonomic group of organisms

Synonyms:

evolution; organic evolution; phylogenesis; phylogeny

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("evolution" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Domain member category:

Scopes trial (a highly publicized trial in 1925 when John Thomas Scopes violated a Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school; Scopes was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan and defended by Clarence Darrow; Scopes was convicted but the verdict was later reversed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "evolution"):

anamorphism; anamorphosis (the evolution of one type of organism from another by a long series of gradual changes)

anthropogenesis; anthropogeny (the evolution or genesis of the human race)

emergent evolution (the appearance of entirely new properties at certain critical stages in the course of evolution)

macroevolution (evolution on a large scale extending over geologic era and resulting in the formation of new taxonomic groups)

microevolution (evolution resulting from small specific genetic changes that can lead to a new subspecies)

speciation (the evolution of a biological species)

Derivation:

evolutionary (of or relating to or produced by evolution)

evolve (undergo development or evolution)

evolve (gain through experience)

Credits

Context examples:

Evolution was not a spent force, but one still working, and even greater achievements were in store.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Under the right conditions, evolution can lead to adaptive shifts in just five or 10 generations.

(Twenty-one species adapted to disappear in the snow. Then, the snow disappeared, National Science Foundation)

This work by Professor Strausfeld and his colleagues is part of a larger innovative project to better understand the organization and evolution of the brains of invertebrates.

(How mantis shrimp make sense of the world, National Science Foundation)

"Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," said Prof. LIU.

(Unpredicted stellar black hole discovered by astronomers, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This HIV initiative will create a center for retrovirology research, with emphasis on basic and translational research related to viral evolution and resistance biology.

(HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI Thesaurus)

Amino acid sequence is highly conserved between members and throughout evolution.

(Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Family, NCI Thesaurus)

Being already no stranger to the general rapidity of my aunt's evolutions, I was not surprised by the suddenness of the proposal, and said: “Yes.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When an individual has revolutionised therapeutics by his discovery of the continuous evolution of brain-matter, conventional forms are unfitting, since they would seem to limit him to one of a class.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As the days went by, the evolution of like into love was accelerated.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Lamins are highly conserved in evolution and members of the intermediate filament protein family.