EVOLUTION

noun Etymology: Latin ~-, evolutio unrolling, from evolvere Date: 1622 one of a set of prescribed movements, 2. a process of change in a certain direction ; unfolding, the action or an instance of forming and giving something off ; emission , c. a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state ; growth , a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance, something evolved, the process of working out or developing, 4. the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species) ; phylogeny , a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations, the extraction of a mathematical root, a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena, ~arily adverb ~ary adjective ~ism noun ~ist noun or adjective