evolution

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n, ˈɛv-/

▶noun

• 1 the process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed from earlier forms, especially by natural selection.

• 2 gradual development.

• 3 Chemistry the giving off of a gaseous product, or of heat.

• 4 a pattern of movements or manoeuvres.

• 5 Mathematics, dated the extraction of a root from a given quantity.

– derivatives
evolutional adjective,
evolutionally adverb,
evolutionarily adverb,
evolutionary adjective,
evolutive adjective.

– origin C17: from L. evolutio(n-) ‘unrolling’, from evolvere (see evolve).