Word.ws English Dictionary

dev

/dɛv/

dev is the clipping of developer.

dev is the clipping of development.

dev is the clipping of device.

Noun

dev (plural devs)

  1. (Armenian) A monster, dragon, serpent, or giant.
  2. (Armenian) An immortal spirit who inhabits old ruins.

Meaning of developer

Noun

developer (plural developers)

  1. A person or entity engaged in the creation or improvement of certain classes of products.
  2. A real estate developer; a person or company who prepares a parcel of land for sale, or creates structures on that land.
    • Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “After Fukushima, Japan beginning to see the light in solar energy”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30
  3. A film developer; a person who uses chemicals to create photographs from photograph negatives.
  4. A liquid used in the chemical processing of traditional photos.
  5. A reagent used to produce an ingrain color by its action upon some substance on the fiber.
  6. A software developer; a person or company who creates or modifies computer software.
    • More important, when we looked at who worked in that industry, we noticed that programmers were in the minority. They’re dwarfed by, among other occupations, the software developers. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but the jobs follow very different trajectories. Nationwide...2025 March 14, Andrew Van Dam, “Department of Data: More than a quarter of computer-programming jobs just vanished. What happened? Learning to code was supposedly the salvation of millions of liberal...

Meaning of development

Noun

development (countable and uncountable, plural developments)

  1. (uncountable) The process of developing; growth, directed change.
    • The development of this story has been slow.
  2. (uncountable) The process by which a mature multicellular organism or part of an organism is produced by the addition of new cells.
    • The organism has reached a crucial stage in its development.
  3. (countable) Something which has developed.
    • Our news team brings you the latest developments.
  4. (countable) A project consisting of one or more commercial or residential buildings.
  5. (uncountable) The building of such a project.
  6. (uncountable) The application of new ideas to practical problems (cf. research).
    • Our development department has produced three new adhesives this year.

See all 11 meanings of development

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Dev

Dev (plural Devs)

  1. A male given name from Hindi.
  2. A patronymic surname from Hindi.
  3. A diminutive of the male given name Devdas.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Dev

Dev

  1. (Irish, abbreviation) Abbreviation of Éamon de Valera, former president of Ireland.

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Dev

the Dev

  1. (UK, slang) The Devonshire Arms, an alternative pub in Camden, London.
    • The Dev was a long-standing favourite, as was Hawley Arms and The World's End, but he found greater pleasure in seeking out the smaller, lesser known bars and pubs.2013, Jon Wilmot, The Reunion, page 135
    • The vampire community offers a variety of activities, ranging from obscure events, such as carve your own tombstone, gothic belly dancing, and Kensal Green Cemetery walks to more regular pub and club nights at alternative venues, such as The Dev (the Devonshire Arms, Camden), the Intrepid Fox...2013, Maria Mellins, Vampire Culture, page 47

Forms of dev

Noun
pluraldevs
Proper noun
pluralDevs

Origin of dev

Clipping.

From Armenian դեւ (dew). Doublet of daeva.

Borrowed from Hindi देव (dev).

Words formed from dev

Phrases with dev

Words that rhyme with dev

Questions about dev

What does dev mean?
Dev means a monster, dragon, serpent, or giant.
What is dev the clipping of?
Dev is the clipping of developer.
What part of speech is dev?
Dev can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce dev?
Dev is pronounced /dɛv/.
What is the plural of dev?
The plural of dev is devs.

Words near dev in the dictionary

  1. Deutys
  2. Deutz
  3. deutzia
  4. deutzias
  5. Deux-Sèvres
  6. dev
  7. dev null
  8. dev-null
  9. dev.
  10. deva
  11. devachan

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dev (page history and authors); Dev (page history and authors); developer (page history and authors); development (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dev.wav.

Cite this entry: “dev.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dev. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.