Evolution and Involution

noun

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

• (n.) The formation of an involute by unwrapping a thread from a curve as an evolute.
• (n.) The act of unfolding or unrolling; hence, in the process of growth; development; as, the evolution of a flower from a bud or an animal from the egg.
• (n.) That theory of generation which supposes the germ to preexist in the parent, and its parts to be developed, but not actually formed, by the procreative act; -- opposed to epigenesis.
• (n.) That series of changes under natural law which involves continuous progress from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous in structure, and from the single and simple to the diverse and manifold in quality or function. The pocess is by some limited to organic beings; by others it is applied to the inorganic and the psychical. It is also applied to explain the existence and growth of institutions, manners, language, civilization, and every product of human activity. The agencies and laws of the process are variously explained by different philosophrs.
• (n.) A general name for the history of the steps by which any living organism has acquired the morphological and physiological characters which distinguish it; a gradual unfolding of successive phases of growth or development.
• (n.) A series of things unrolled or unfolded.
• (n.) The extraction of roots; -- the reverse of involution.
• (n.) A prescribed movement of a body of troops or a vessel or fleet; any movement designed to effect a new arrangement or disposition; a maneuver.

noun

• Reduction in size of an organ or part (as in the return of the uterus to normal size after childbirth. )
• A long and intricate and complicated grammatical construction.
• Marked by elaborately complex detail.
  • synonyms: elaborateness, elaboration, intricacy
• The act of sharing in the activities of a group.
  • usage: "the teacher tried to increase his students' engagement in class activities"
  • synonyms: engagement, participation, involvement
• The process of raising a quantity to some assigned power.
  • synonyms: exponentiation
• The action of enfolding something.
  • synonyms: enfolding

• (n.) The state of being entangled or involved; complication; entanglement.
• (n.) The act of involving or infolding.
• (n.) The return of an enlarged part or organ to its normal size, as of the uterus after pregnancy.
• (n.) The relation which exists between three or more sets of points, a.a', b.b', c.c', so related to a point O on the line, that the product Oa.Oa' = Ob.Ob' = Oc.Oc' is constant. Sets of lines or surfaces possessing corresponding properties may be in involution.
• (n.) That in which anything is involved, folded or wrapped; envelope.
• (n.) The act or process of raising a quantity to any power assigned; the multiplication of a quantity into itself a given number of times; -- the reverse of evolution.
• (n.) The insertion of one or more clauses between the subject and the verb, in a way that involves or complicates the construction.