Evolve

How to spell evolve

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce evolve

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does evolve mean?

1. verbTo develop gradually, or to cause something to develop, over a period of time.

Evolve in a sentence

• The company hopes its products will evolve to meet changing customer needs.

• Species evolve slowly through small genetic changes across many generations.

Where does evolve come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin evolvere, which literally meant 'to roll out' or 'to unroll', formed from the prefix ex- meaning 'out' and the verb volvere meaning 'to roll' or 'to turn'. In Roman usage it often described unrolling a papyrus scroll to read it, so the original image is one of something opening up and revealing what it contains. English borrowed it in the seventeenth century with that sense of unfolding or developing gradually, and over time it came to describe steady change and growth. The biological meaning, the gradual development of species, was popularised in the nineteenth century around the work of Charles Darwin. The same volvere root turns up in relatives such as 'revolve', 'involve' and 'volume', which was originally a rolled-up scroll, and remembering that 'roll' core helps fix the single l and the -lve ending.

How the word is built

• e- (out, from ex-)
• volv (to roll, from Latin volvere)
• -e