Word · Frequency #11987
devolve
下放；委托
To delegate a responsibility, duty, or power to someone else.
- 1.
To be inherited by someone else; to pass down upon the next person in a succession, especially through failure or loss of an earlier holder.
因前任放弃或丧失而由他人继承；传给下一位。
- 2.
To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone.
将(责任、职责等)委托给某人。
- 3.
To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone.
成为某人的责任或义务。
- 4.
To degenerate; to break down.
退化；瓦解
退化；恶化；传给；遗留给；落到（某人）身上；因前任放弃或丧失而由他人继承；传给下一位。；将(责任、职责等)委托给某人。
In use
The manager decided to devolve some of his responsibilities onto his team members.
As the company grew, the CEO devolved decision-making authority to regional directors.
The new policy devolves more power to local governments.
devolve sth to sb
用于权力或责任的转移。
The central government devolved power to the local councils.
中央政府将权力下放给地方议会。
devolve (up)on sb
常与upon/on连用，表示责任等被转移给某人。
The responsibility devolved upon the manager.
责任移交给了经理。
devolve into sth
表示恶化或降级为更糟糕的状态。
Connections
Collocations
- devolve on/upon
- （责任、义务等）落到…身上；由…承担
- When the CEO resigned, the task of restructuring devolved upon the board.首席执行官辞职后，重组的任务落到了董事会身上。
- devolve to
- （财产、权力等）传给；遗留给
- The estate devolved to his eldest son.遗产传给了他的长子。
- devolve responsibility
- 下放责任；委托责任
- The government decided to devolve responsibility for healthcare to regional councils.政府决定将医疗保健责任下放给地区议会。
- devolve power
- 下放权力
- The central bank devolved power to local branches.中央银行将权力下放给了地方分行。
- devolve into
- 退化为；恶化成
- The debate devolved into a shouting match.辩论演变成了一场争吵。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：devolve 中的 de- 像向下，v 像漏斗，责任顺着漏斗漏给下级——下放、委托；要记退化，可联想 devil 变坏。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：法律/行政、正式书面语 devolve 通常用于正式语境，多出现在法律、行政或政治讨论中，表示权力或责任的下放、移交；也可指“恶化”或“演变成”，但这类用法也比较书面化。日常口语中较少使用。
Grammar Note
及物时意为'转移，下放'，后接to/upon；不及物时意为'被移交，恶化'，常以主动形式表被动，后接to/upon。
Pronunciation & Spelling
devolve /dɪˈvɒlv/ 的结尾 -volve 在 involve、revolve、evolve 中读音相同，均为 /vɒlv/。solve /sɒlv/ 和 resolve /rɪˈzɒlv/ 也押韵，但拼写是 -solve，且 resolve 的 s 读 /z/。注意 devil 以 dev 开头，但读音 /ˈdevəl/ 与 devolve 完全不同。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.