Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-VOLVE', v.i. [devolv'; L. devolvo; de and volvo, to roll, Eng. to wallow.]

1. To roll down; to pour or flow with windings. Through splendid kingdoms he devolves his maze. – Thomson.
2. To move from one person to another; to deliver over, or from one possessor to a successor. The king devolved the care and disposition of affairs on the duke of Ormond. – Temple. Gibbon.