n. A gradual unfolding; a full disclosure or working out of the details of something, as the plot of a novel or a drama, an architectural or a military plan, a financial scheme, etc.; the act of evolving or unraveling.n. The internal or subjective process of unfolding or expanding; the coming forth or into existence of additional elements, principles, or substances; gradual advancement through progressive changes; a growing out or up; growth in general: as, the development of the mind or body, or of a form of government; the development of the principles of art or of civilization.n. Specificallyn. In biology, the same as evolution: applied alike to an evolutionary process and its result.n. In math.: The expression of any function in the form of a series; also, the process by which any mathematical expression is changed into another of equivalent value or meaning and of more expanded form; also, the series resulting from such a process.n. The bending of a surface into a plane, or of all its infinitesimal parts into parts of a plane.n. The bending of a non-plane curve into a plane curve.n. In photography, the process by which the latent image in a photographically exposed sensitive film is rendered visible through a chemical precipitation on that portion of the sensitized surface which has been acted on by light.n. In music: The systematic unfolding, by a varied rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic treatment, of the qualities of a theme, especially in a formal composition like a sonata.n. That part of a movement in which such an unfolding of a theme takes place.n. In biology, the theory of evolution (which see, under evolution).n. Synonyms Unraveling, disentanglement.n. Growth, evolution, progress, ripening.n. The generation of a new living being considered inductively as a fact, without reference to the question whether it is to be regarded as evolution or unfolding, or as epigenesis or new formation; the subject-matter of the science of descriptive embryology or embryogeny.n. Specifically, in music, the second section of a movement in sonata form or the central portion of a fugue, in which the thematic material in the subject or subjects is unfolded and variously treated. Also called the working-out or the development section.n. In chess, the movements by which a player in the early part of the game places his pieces in position for future action.