Develop: Growing, Building, and Bringing Out an Image
To develop is to grow or make progress, to build on land, or to bring out a photographic image. The word originally meant to unwrap.
Develop means to bring something out of a state where it was folded up or hidden. Photography kept the oldest sense most clearly: developing a film brings out an image that was already there, invisible, in the emulsion.
- To grow or advance. *The town developed rapidly.*
- To create over time. *They developed a new vaccine.*
- To build on land. *The site was developed for housing.*
- To bring out a photograph. *The film was developed overnight.*
- To begin to have. *She developed a cough.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | develop | Develop the idea. |
| Noun | development | Recent developments. |
| Person | developer | A property developer. |
| Adjective | developing | A developing situation. |
| Adjective | developed | A developed economy. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The story is still developing.News usage — facts are still emerging.
- He developed an interest in birds.Came to have, gradually.
- Software developers work in teams.The dominant modern sense of the agent noun.
Development means very different things
- Personal development — improving skills or character
- Property development — building on land for profit
- Software development — writing and maintaining programs
- Economic development — raising living standards in a country
- A development in a news story — a new fact
From Old French *desveloper*, to unwrap, from *des* (undo) and a root meaning to wrap. Its opposite, *envelop*, kept the original picture: one wraps and the other unwraps.
Develop or developp?
One p. Unlike most verbs ending in a stressed vowel plus consonant, develop does not double: developed, developing.
Developing country — is it the right term?
It is widely used but criticised for implying a single path. Many organisations now prefer low- and middle-income countries.