Webster's English Dictionary

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evolution

evo.lu.tion \.ev-*-'lu:-sh*n also .e--v*-\ \-sh*-.ner-e-\ \-sh*-.niz-*m\ 
   \-sh(*-)n*st\ n [L evolution-, evolutio unrolling, fr. evolutus, pp. of 
   ev]olvere 1a: a process of change in a certain direction : UNFOLDING  1b1: 
   a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a hi 
   gher, more complex, or better state : GROWTH 1b2: a process of gradual and 
   relatively peaceful social, political, and ec onomic advance 1c: something 
   evolved  2: one of a set of prescribed movements  3: the process of working 
   out or developing  4: the extraction of a mathematical root  5a: PHYLOGENY  
   5b: the process by which through a series of changes or steps a living orga 
   nism has acquired its distinguishing morphological and physiological 
   characters 5c: a theory that the various types of animals and plants have 
   their origin  in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable 
   differences are due to modifications in successive generations 6: a process 
   in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated p henomena - 
   evo.lu.tion.ary aj