Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - evolution

 noun  Etymology: Latin ~-, evolutio unrolling, from evolvere  Date: 1622  1. one of a set of prescribed movements  2.  a. a process of change in a certain direction ; unfolding  b. the action or an instance of forming and giving something off ; emission  c.  (1) a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state ; growth  (2) a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance  d. something evolved  3. the process of working out or developing  4.  a. the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species) ; phylogeny  b. 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; also the process described by this theory  5. the extraction of a mathematical root  6. a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena  • ~arily adverb  • ~ary adjective  • ~ism noun  • ~ist noun or adjective