development

The word “development” means the process of growing, changing, or advancing. In plain terms, growth or progress over time, a piece of news, or a built-up area of housing.

“Development” is pronounced dih-VEHL-uhp-muhnt (/dɪˈvɛl.əp.mənt/ in IPA).

Here is “development” used in a sentence: “Her career development has been impressive over the years.”

“Development” is a noun.

The word “development” comes from Old French. From French développement, from Old French desvelopemens ("unrolling"); development + -ment.

“Development” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Development” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the process of growing, changing, or advancing.

Growth usually means an increase in size, amount or number — something getting bigger. Development is broader: it is the process of advancing, improving or becoming more complex and capable, not just larger. A child grows taller but develops language and skills. Growth is mostly quantitative, while development is qualitative change over time.

The word applies across many fields: personal development, child development, economic development, professional development, software development and property or urban development. In each, something grows, changes or advances over time — a person's abilities, a country's economy, a piece of land, or a computer program moving from idea to finished product.

Yes, in most fields it is tracked with indicators and milestones. Child development is measured against expected stages; economic development uses figures like income, health and education combined in indices; software and project development is measured by progress toward defined goals. Measuring it shows whether the growth or advancement is actually happening.

Development is any process of growing or advancing: 'the development of language in young children,' 'recent developments in cancer treatment,' or 'the economic development of the region.' It can name the process itself or a specific new stage that emerges, such as a breakthrough or a newly built area.