Develop

How to spell develop

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce develop

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does develop mean?

1. verbTo grow, advance, or bring something gradually into a more complete or advanced state.

Develop in a sentence

• The company plans to develop a new range of products next year.

• Regular practice will help her develop stronger writing skills.

Where does develop come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1650s from the French verb developper, an earlier form of which was Old French desveloper, meaning 'to unwrap' or 'to unfurl'. It was built from des-, a prefix signalling reversal, joined to voloper, meaning 'to wrap up' or 'to envelop', so the literal sense was to undo a wrapping and reveal what lay inside. From that image of unrolling something hidden grew the modern meanings of bringing out, growing, and gradually advancing. The same voloper root sits inside the everyday word 'envelope', which is something you wrap a letter in, and seeing that connection helps explain why both words share the 'velop' core. A common spelling trap is that, despite ending in a stressed-sounding syllable, develop takes no final 'e' and no doubled 'p', unlike many verbs that double the consonant.

How the word is built

• de- (reversal, from Old French des-)
• velop (to wrap, from Old French voloper)