devolved

verb

"devolved" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“devolved” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #24,424. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#24,424
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past and past participle of devolve

Corpus desk

Index EN-devolved · devolved · English

devolved · rank #24,424 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,424
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH denominator

Nearest frequency peer: denominator (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “devolved”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “devolved” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

devolved vs devoted
75% similar
devolved vs delved
75% similar
devolved vs devolve
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for devolved
PropertyValue
Headworddevolved
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Frequency rank#24,424
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “devolved”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).devolvedlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “denominator” (#24,423), “dieting” (#24,425), “debatable” (#24,422). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “devolved” is #24,424. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around devolved, averb. Corpus frequency is #24,424 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "simple past and past participle of devolve".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for devolved, with forms such as "ddevolved", "deovlved", and "devloved". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "devoted", "delved", "devolve", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is devolved, spelled D-E-V-O-L-V-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of devolve

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how devolved appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Subject to the decision of our members, we have successfully negotiated significant pay increases for our members with the governments of the devolved nations," said ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan. "Sadly, this is in stark contrast with the response from the Westminster government.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddevolved
  • deovlved
  • devloved
  • devolevd
  • devollved
  • devolvde
  • devolvedd
  • devolvved
  • devovled
  • devvolved
  • dveolved
  • edvolved

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of devolved - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ddevolved1deovlved2devloved2devolevd2devollved1devolvde2devolvedd1devolvved1
Edit distance from "devolved"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "devolved"?
"devolved" is spelled D-E-V-O-L-V-E-D.
What does "devolved" mean?
As a verb, "devolved" means: simple past and past participle of devolve
What words are commonly confused with "devolved"?
"devolved" is commonly confused with "devoted", "delved", "devolve". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "devolved" come from?
"devolved" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "devolved", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list