devolve

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Introducing WORD SWEEP!, the first board game to feature Merriam-Webster=
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The Word of the Day for January 21 is:=20

devolve   \dih-VAHLV\   verb
          1 a : to pass by transmission or succession  b : to fall or be=
 passed usually as a responsibility or obligation=20
     2 : to come by or as if by flowing down
   *3 : to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution

Example sentence:
          Our book club's discussions used to be thought-provoking liter=
ary debates, but lately they've devolved into gossip sessions.
=20

Did you know?
          "Devolve" evolved from a combination of Latin "volvere," a wor=
d that means "to roll," and the prefix "de-," meaning "down." (Other wor=
ds that revolve around "volvere" are the five other words containing "-v=
ol-" found in this paragraph.) Knowing which preposition to use with "de=
volve" can seem a bit involved, but it's really not all that convoluted.=
 Responsibility or rights devolve "on," "upon," or "to" someone. When so=
mething comes into a present state by flowing down from a source, either=
 literally or figuratively, we say "devolve from," as in "customs that d=
evolve from old beliefs." And when the devolving is a downward evolution=
 to a lower state we say "devolves into" (or sometimes "devolves to"), a=
s in "order devolves into chaos."=20





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