Search Result for "devolution": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality;
[syn: degeneration, devolution]

2. the delegation of authority (especially from a central to a regional government);
[syn: devolution, devolvement]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Devolution \Dev`o*lu"tion\, n. [LL. devolutio: cf. F. d['e]volution.] 1. The act of rolling down. [R.] [1913 Webster] The devolution of earth down upon the valleys. --Woodward. [1913 Webster] 2. Transference from one person to another; a passing or devolving upon a successor. [1913 Webster] The devolution of the crown through a . . . channel known and conformable to old constitutional requisitions. --De Quincey. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

devolution n 1: the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality [syn: degeneration, devolution] [ant: development, evolution] 2: the delegation of authority (especially from a central to a regional government) [syn: devolution, devolvement]
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DEVOLUTION, eccl. law. The transfer, by forfeiture, of a right and power which a person has to another, on account of some act or negligence of the person who is vested with such right or power: for example, when a person has the right of preseptation, and he does not present within the time prescribed, the right devolves on his next immediate superior. Ayl. Par. 331.