Basic Details
Word: Development
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The process of growing or changing into something bigger, stronger or more advanced; also a new event that changes a situation.
Synonyms: growth, progress, advance, expansion
Antonyms: decline, decay
How to Spell Development
Syllables: de - vel - op - ment
Tricky part: There is no e between develop and ment, so developement is wrong. The word also has a single l and a single p.
Watch out for: developement, devlopment, developpment
Memory tip: Develop itself has no e at the end, so none can appear when ment is added. Write develop first, check it ends in p, then join ment.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The development of the new metro line took almost six years.
Example 2: Regular reading helps the development of a child's vocabulary.
Example 3: The police said there had been an important development in the case.
Fun Fact
In photography, to develop a film meant treating it with chemicals so the hidden picture appeared, which is why photo shops once advertised developing and printing.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix ment to make a noun:
ment
a) divide
b) decide
c) describe
d) develop
Show answer
d) develop. Describe, decide and divide form their nouns with tion or sion; develop simply adds ment.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
dev_lo_ment
a) e, p
b) i, p
c) e, b
d) a, p
Show answer
a) e, p. The word opens de-vel, so the first gap is e, and develop ends in p before ment.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. goverment 2. enviroment 3. arguement 4. development
a) a disagreement in which people give reasons
b) the group of people who run a country
c) the natural world around living things
d) the process of growing or improving
Show answer
d) the process of growing or improving. Environment and government both need an n before ment, and argument drops the e of argue.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is an example of development?
a) a seed growing into a tree
b) a road being closed
c) a tree being cut down
d) a river drying up
Show answer
a) a seed growing into a tree
2. When a news reader speaks of a new development in a story, she means ____.
a) something new has happened
b) the facts were made up
c) the story is now finished
d) the story is very old
Show answer
a) something new has happened
