Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Development \De*vel"op*ment\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]veloppement.]
   [Written also {developement}.]
   1. The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown;
      a gradual unfolding process by which anything is
      developed, as a plan or method, or an image upon a
      photographic plate; gradual advancement or growth through
      a series of progressive changes; also, the result of
      developing, or a developed state.

            A new development of imagination, taste, and poetry.
                                                  --Channing.

   2. (Biol.) The series of changes which animal and vegetable
      organisms undergo in their passage from the embryonic
      state to maturity, from a lower to a higher state of
      organization.

   3. (Math.)
      (a) The act or process of changing or expanding an
          expression into another of equivalent value or
          meaning.
      (b) The equivalent expression into which another has been
          developed.

   4. (mus.) The elaboration of a theme or subject; the
      unfolding of a musical idea; the evolution of a whole
      piece or movement from a leading theme or motive.

   {Development theory} (Biol.), the doctrine that animals and
      plants possess the power of passing by slow and successive
      stages from a lower to a higher state of organization, and
      that all the higher forms of life now in existence were
      thus developed by uniform laws from lower forms, and are
      not the result of special creative acts. See the Note
      under {Darwinian}.

   Syn: Unfolding; disclosure; unraveling; evolution;
        elaboration; growth.

Source : WordNet®

development
     n 1: act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining; "he
          congratulated them on their development of a plan to
          meet the emergency"; "they funded research and
          development"
     2: 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" [syn: {evolution}]
        [ant: {degeneration}]
     3: a recent event that has some relevance for the present
        situation; "recent developments in Iraq"; "what a
        revolting development!"
     4: the act of making some area of land or water more profitable
        or productive or useful; "the development of Alaskan
        resources"; "the exploitation of copper deposits" [syn: {exploitation}]
     5: a district that has been developed to serve some purpose;
        "such land is practical for small park developments"
     6: a state in which things are improving; the result of
        developing (as in the early part of a game of chess);
        "after he saw the latest development he changed his mind
        and became a supporter"; "in chess your should take care
        of your development before moving your queen"
     7: (biology) the process of an individual organism growing
        organically; a purely biological unfolding of events
        involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple
        to a more complex level; "he proposed an indicator of
        osseous development in children" [syn: {growth}, {growing},
         {maturation}, {ontogeny}, {ontogenesis}] [ant: {nondevelopment}]
     8: processing a photosensitive material in order to make an
        image visible; "the development and printing of his
        pictures took only two hours" [syn: {developing}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

development
     
        The process of analysis, design, coding and testing software.