Developed

How to spell developed

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce developed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does developed mean?

1. verbGrew, advanced, or brought into a fuller or more complete state over time.
2. adjectiveAdvanced, mature, or built up to a higher level than something more basic.

Developed in a sentence

• verb

  The company developed a new payroll system over six months.

• adjective

  Investors prefer to put money into a more developed economy.

• verb

  She developed a strong interest in tax law during her training.

• adjective

  The report compared housing costs across several developed nations.

Where does developed come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the past form of 'develop', which English borrowed in the 1650s from the French verb developper, meaning 'to unwrap' or 'to unfold'. That French word was built from the prefix des- (meaning 'undo' or 'reverse') joined to a root velop that meant 'to wrap up' and is the same element hiding inside 'envelop' and 'envelope'. So at its literal heart, to develop something was to take the wrapping off it and let it unfurl, and that image of gradual unfolding survives in every modern sense, whether a plan, a skill, a photograph, or a region is being brought into fuller form. The root velop is of uncertain ancestry, possibly Celtic or Germanic, which is why the early history is hazier than it looks. A useful spelling memory is that 'develop' keeps a single 'l' and a single 'p' throughout, so 'developed' simply adds '-ed' with no doubling, the opposite of what many writers expect.

How the word is built

• de- (un-, reverse of)
• velop (to wrap, from Old French veloper)
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)