De-vĕl'op-ment, n.

n. [Fr. développement.] [Written also developement.]

1. The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown; the gradual unfolding of a plan or method; the unraveling of a plot; gradual advancement or growth through a series of progressive changes. “A new development of imagination, taste, and poetry.” Channing.
2. (Math.) (a.) The act or process of changing or expanding an expression into another of equivalent value or meaning. (b.) The equivalent expression into which another has been developed.

Development theory (Nat. Hist.), the doctrine that all existing forms of matter and spirit were developed by uniform laws from simpler forms, and those from simpler, without creative act. Syn.—Unfolding; disclosure; unraveling; detection; disentanglement.