Entry Word: development

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 the act or process of going from the simple or basic to the complex or advanced <the development of an idea into a marketable product>

Synonyms elaboration, evolution, expansion, growth, progress, progression

Related Words advancement, betterment, improvement, perfection, refinement; maturation

Near Antonyms decadence, decay, decaying, declension, decline, degeneration, descent, deterioration, downgrade, ebbing, weakening

Antonyms regression, retrogression

2 a condition or occurrence traceable to a cause <a development that the writers of the law never anticipated or intended> — see effect 1
3 the process of becoming mature <a tulipʼs development from a bulb into a flower> — see maturation