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devolution

UK/diːvəˈluːʃən/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,003 of 15,258mostly written

Devolution is handing powers from a central government to a regional one. Scottish devolution, a devolution settlement, further devolution.

It differs from federalism in that the centre could in principle take the powers back, since it granted them. Britain devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1999, and what is devolved differs in each case.

Definitions of devolution

  1. 1noundevolutionHanding powers from a central government to a regional one.C1

    “Since devolution, Scotland has had its own parliament that makes decisions on health and education.”

devolution is a transfer of power.

Where it comes from

Latin devolutio comes from devolvere, to roll down — de, down, plus volvere, to roll.

  1. Latin

    devolvo

  2. Medieval Latin

    devolutio

  3. Middle French

    dévolution

  4. English, today

    devolution

Borrowed from Middle French dévolution, from Medieval Latin devolutio, from Latin devolvo.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Politics & Society

Practise this word

devolution in the wild

  • The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.

    Mayor of London

  • Scottish devolution is the process of the UK Parliament granting powers (excluding powers over reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament.

    Scottish devolution

  • There have been other proposals for devolution in England, including national devolution, regional devolution (such as to northern England or Cornwall) or failed proposals for regional assemblies.

    Devolution in the United Kingdom

  • Welsh devolution is the transfer of legislative powers for self-governance to Wales by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

    Welsh devolution

  • The devolution of some administrative responsibilities began in the early twentieth century, as well as the passing of laws specific to Wales.

    Welsh devolution

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the devolvo family

devolvedevolution

devolution — used about once every 159,543 pages · #15,003 · point at the bar for the others