evolution

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēvolūtiō, ēvolūtiōnis (“the act of unrolling, unfolding or opening (of a book)”), from ēvolūtus, perfect passive participle of ēvolvō (“unroll, unfold”), from ex + volvō (“roll”).

noun

1. A change of position.
   1. (military) A manoeuvre of troops or ships.
      Major Holroyd, who acted as the General, was extremely polite, and attentive, and came to us between every evolution, to explain and talk over the manoeuvres. 1779, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 117
   2. (chiefly dance, sports) A turning movement, especially of the body.
      It was a critical instant: the pirouette -- it would fail, she feared. … the rapid whirl achieved in exact time, the whole evolution executed to perfection. 1869, anonymous author, Miss Langley's Will
      … as he beheld the tenfold pirouette of a lovely girl, which presented to the public eye the whole of her form and figure; … to praise the dexterity and ease with which the unfortunate and degraded creature had performed the ungraceful evolution, the only merit of which, is the gross exposition of person, at which modesty shudders […] 1825, Theodore Edward Hook, Sayings and Doings: Passion and principle
      Look now, that pirouette -- my stars! how Beauchamp would stare to see his darling perform such an evolution! 1863, Knightley Willia Horlock, The master of the hounds
      By this operation each foot will describe an arc or segment of a circle. … This evolution is performed sometimes on one foot, sometimes on the other … 1869, William Clarke, The boy's own book
   3. (obsolete) A turned or twisted shape; an involution, a complex or intricate shape.
      ‘It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crouded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.’ 1791, James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 298
2. An unfolding.
   1. (now rare) The act or process of unfolding or opening out; the progression of events in regular succession.
   2. (geometry) The opening out of a curve; now more generally, the gradual transformation of a curve by a change of the conditions generating it.
   3. (mathematics, now chiefly historical) The extraction of a root from a given power.
   4. (chemistry) The act or an instance of giving off gas; emission.
3. Process of development.
   1. Development; the act or result of developing what was implicit in an idea, argument etc.
      The ongoing evolution of Lolita subculture fashion includes, among other things, the ballet style.
      Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego. 2005, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
   2. A process of gradual change in a given system, subject, product etc., especially from simpler to more complex forms.
      Among other forms of change, the evolution of transportation has involved modification, diversification, convergence, divergence, hybridization, differentiation, and naturally, selection.
      By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
      There are some examples of cultural evolution in birds and monkeys, but […] it is our own species that really shows what cultural evolution can do. 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
   3. (biology) The transformation of animals, plants and other living things into different forms (now understood as a change in genetic composition) by the accumulation of changes over successive generations.
      [Some books have] made the erroneous assumption that the important thing in evolution is the good of the species (or the group) rather than the good of the individual (or the gene). 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
      Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction. 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3