Development

How to spell development

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce development

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does development mean?

1. nounThe process of growing, advancing, or becoming more mature, complete, or elaborate.
2. nounA tract of land that has been built on, or the act of constructing buildings on land.
3. nounA new event or stage in a changing situation.

Development in a sentence

• The company invested heavily in research and development.

• The council approved a new housing development on the edge of town.

• Reporters waited outside the courtroom for the latest development in the case.

• Early childhood development depends on a stable home environment.

• The empty field was earmarked for commercial development.

• A surprising development forced the board to rethink its strategy.

Where does development come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Old French verb desveloper, meaning 'to unwrap' or 'to unfold', formed from the prefix des- (signalling reversal or undoing) and a root veloper meaning 'to wrap' or 'to envelop'. That same root sits inside the everyday word 'envelope', which is literally something that wraps a letter. English borrowed the verb 'develop' in the seventeenth century with the sense of unfolding or unrolling something that had been wrapped up, and the figurative idea of bringing hidden potential into the open soon followed. The noun 'development' was built by adding the French-derived suffix -ment, and it came to cover both the act of growing or progressing and the result of that growth. The classic spelling trap is the join between 'develop' and '-ment': because the verb already ends in a hard 'p' sound, writers are tempted to insert a silent 'e' and write 'developement', but no such 'e' belongs there.

How the word is built

• de- (reversal/undoing)
• velop (root from Old French veloper: to wrap, enfold)
• -ment (noun suffix)