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REFERENCE

develop

v.
US //dɪˈvɛɫəp// UK //dɪvˈɛləp// de·vel·op
  1. 1 to grow or improve (v.)
    A2 Elementary

    to grow or change into something more advanced or stronger.

    to progress through a sequence of stages toward a more advanced, effective, or mature state.

    Example

    The small village developed into a busy town over the last twenty years.

    Example

    As the child's motor skills develop, they become increasingly capable of performing complex tasks that require fine hand-eye coordination.
  2. 2 to create or design (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to design or build something new, like a product or a plan.

    to bring into being or make active; to elaborate or expand in detail.

    Example

    The company is developing a new app to help people track their fitness.

    Example

    The research team spent three years developing a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics before the product was ready for the mass market.
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  1. 3 to acquire a habit or illness (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Medicine

    to start to have a problem, a sickness, or a new habit.

    to become affected by a disease or to begin to exhibit a specific habit or trait over time.

    Example

    He developed a bad cough after walking home in the cold rain.

    Example

    Patients who lead sedentary lifestyles are statistically more likely to develop chronic cardiovascular issues later in life.
  2. 4 photography (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to use chemicals to make pictures appear on film.

    to treat exposed photographic film with chemicals to render the latent image visible.

    Example

    I need to take this roll of film to the shop to have it developed.

    Example

    Before digital cameras became standard, photographers spent hours in darkrooms carefully developing their own black-and-white prints.
  3. 5 math/logic (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Math

    to work out a mathematical problem to show all the steps.

    to expand an algebraic expression or a mathematical argument by performing a series of operations.

    Example

    The teacher asked the students to develop the equation on the board.

    Example

    The mathematician sought to develop a new proof that would reconcile the conflicting results observed in the previous two studies.
Origin

Borrowed from French développer, from Middle French desveloper, from Old French desveloper, from des- + voloper, veloper, vloper (“to wrap, wrap up”) (compare Italian sviluppare, Old Italian alternative form goluppare (“to wrap”)) from Vulgar Latin vloppō, wloppō (“to wrap”) ultimately from Proto-Germanic wrappaną, wlappaną (“to wrap, roll up, turn, wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to turn, bend”) http://www.wordnik.com/words/envelop. Akin to Middle English wlappen (“to wrap, fold”) (Modern English lap (“to wrap, involve, fold”)), Middle English wrappen (“to wrap”), Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind, twist”), Middle Low German wrempen (“to wrinkle, scrunch, distort”), Old English wearp (“warp”). The word acquired its modern meaning from the 17th-century belief that an egg contains the animal in miniature and matures by growing larger and shedding its envelopes.

Word family

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