evolution in WordNet English dictionary

1. a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)
   "the development of his ideas took many years"; "the evolution of Greek civilization"; "the slow development of her skill as a writer"
   development  evolution 
   
2. (biology) the sequence of events involved in the evolutionary development of a species or taxonomic group of organisms
   evolution  organic evolution  phylogeny  phylogenesis