Hypertext Webster Gateway: "devolve"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Devolve \De*volve"\, v. i.
To pass by transmission or succession; to be handed over or
down; -- generally with on or upon, sometimes with to or
into; as, after the general fell, the command devolved upon
(or on) the next officer in rank.
His estate . . . devolved to Lord Somerville.
--Johnson.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Devolve \De*volve"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Devolved}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Devolving}.] [L. devolvere, devolutum, to roll down;
de + volvere to roll down; de + volvere to roll. See
{Voluble}.]
1. To roll onward or downward; to pass on.
Every headlong stream Devolves its winding waters to
the main. --Akenside.
Devolved his rounded periods. --Tennyson.
2. To transfer from one person to another; to deliver over;
to hand down; -- generally with upon, sometimes with to or
into.
They devolved a considerable share of their power
upon their favorite. --Burke.
They devolved their whole authority into the hands
of the council of sixty. --Addison.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
devolve
v 1: pass on or delegate to another; "The representative devolved
his duties to his aides while he was in the hospital"
2: be inherited by; "The estate fell to my sister"; "The land
returned to the family"; "The estate devolved to an heir
that everybody had assumed to be dead" [syn: {fall}, {return},
{pass}]
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