# develop

Pronunciation: say "di-VEL-uhp" /dɪˈvɛl.əp/

## Verb

1. To grow or change gradually, becoming larger, more advanced, or more complete.
   - Simple: To grow or change step by step, becoming bigger, more advanced, or more complete.
   - _Most mammals develop through clearly defined embryonic stages._
   - _The plot of the novel developed slowly across its opening chapters._
2. To create something new, such as a product, plan, or method, through thought or work.
   - Simple: To make or create something new, like a product or a plan.
   - _Researchers develop new materials for use in spacecraft._
   - _The studio developed three new games last year._
3. To come to have something, such as a quality, reputation, or condition, usually gradually rather than all at once.
   - Simple: To begin to have something, such as a quality or condition, usually gradually.
   - _He developed a reputation for honesty over many years._
   - _Patients sometimes develop resistance to certain drugs._
4. To advance or further something, promoting its growth or progress.
   - Simple: To help something grow, improve, or move forward.
   - _The foundation works to develop local industries._
   - _Years of training developed his remarkable endurance._
5. Of a problem, illness, storm, or situation: to arise or begin to take shape, sometimes becoming stronger or more serious.
   - Simple: Of a problem, illness, storm, or situation: to start to exist, sometimes becoming worse or stronger.
   - _Hurricanes often develop over warm ocean water late in the summer._
   - _A serious infection developed in the wound within a few days of the surgery._
6. To put up homes, offices, or other buildings on a piece of land, or to get land ready for construction.
   - Simple: To build houses or other buildings on land, or to get land ready for building.
   - _Investors are seeking permission to develop the old rail yard as offices and apartments._
   - _Much of the coastline has already been developed, leaving few wild beaches._
7. To expand an idea, argument, story, or theme by working out its details more fully.
   - Simple: To add more detail to an idea or story so that it becomes fuller.
   - _The editors asked him to develop his closing argument with more evidence before publication._
   - _The composer takes a simple four-note theme and develops it across all four movements._
8. To treat exposed photographic film with chemicals, bringing out the latent images.
   - Simple: To treat photographic film with chemicals so the pictures appear.
   - _She developed the negatives herself that weekend._
   - _Photographers develop their own film for greater control over the result._
9. To bring one's chess pieces into active, useful positions during the opening.
   - Simple: In chess, to move your pieces out into useful, active positions.
   - _Good players develop their minor pieces before launching an attack._
   - _He developed his bishop to put pressure on the center._

## Verb

10. To discover or find out something; to uncover what was hidden. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To discover or uncover something that was hidden.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To change the form of an algebraic expression by carrying out indicated operations without altering its value.
- (verb) In snooker or pool, to move a ball into a more open position so it can be played more easily on a later shot.

## Origin

Borrowed from French développer, going back through Old French desveloper to des- plus veloper ("to wrap"), from a Vulgar Latin root ultimately traced to Proto-Germanic and the Proto-Indo-European *werb- ("to turn, bend"). Its modern meaning grew out of a 17th-century idea: that an egg holds the animal already formed in miniature, which matures by getting bigger and casting off its envelopes.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/develop (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).