DEVOLUTION

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

devolution
    n 1: the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of
         effective power or vitality or essential quality [syn:
         {degeneration}, {devolution}] [ant: {development},
         {evolution}]
    2: the delegation of authority (especially from a central to a
       regional government) [syn: {devolution}, {devolvement}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Devolution \Dev`o*lu"tion\, n. [LL. devolutio: cf. F.
   d['e]volution.]
   1. The act of rolling down. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            The devolution of earth down upon the valleys.
                                                  --Woodward.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Transference from one person to another; a passing or
      devolving upon a successor.
      [1913 Webster]

            The devolution of the crown through a . . . channel
            known and conformable to old constitutional
            requisitions.                         --De Quincey.
      [1913 Webster]

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

DEVOLUTION, eccl. law. The transfer, by forfeiture, of a right and power 
which a person has to another, on account of some act or negligence of the 
person who is vested with such right or power: for example, when a person 
has the right of preseptation, and he does not present within the time 
prescribed, the right devolves on his next immediate superior. Ayl. Par. 
331.

[email protected]