MEANING
1. To transfer authority or duties to a lower or more local level.
2. To develop into a less orderly or less satisfactory condition.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- devolve powers
- devolve responsibility
On the page
The reform devolved planning powers to regional councils.
Word forms
- Base
- devolve
- Past tense
- devolved
- Past participle
- devolved
- Present participle
- devolving
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- devolve
- Present continuous
- am/is/are devolving
- Present perfect
- have/has devolved
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been devolving
- Past
- devolved
- Past continuous
- was/were devolving
- Past perfect
- had devolved
- Past perfect continuous
- had been devolving
- Future
- will devolve
- Future continuous
- will be devolving
- Future perfect
- will have devolved
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been devolving
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: devolve; devolves; devolved; devolved; devolving Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, qualification. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: devolves.
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