Meaning & Definition of Devolve in English

1. Pass on or delegate to another

• "The representative devolved his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital"

2. Be inherited by

• "The estate fell to my sister"

• "The land returned to the family"

• "The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead"

3. Grow worse

• "Her condition deteriorated"

• "Conditions in the slums degenerated"

• "The discussion devolved into a shouting match"