:::My dictionary (American Heritage, 4th ed.) includes a few other definitions of "shift", including a change in direction (as a shift in the wind), and I think several of these are as appropriate as any other word, but the AHD also defines evolve as "to develop or achieve gradually," so it occurred to me that if not everyone is satisfied with either "change" or "shift", maybe "development" would be an option.  Thus, 
 :::"Evolution is the development of inherited traits of organisms among a given population over successive generations." 
 :::Thoughts?   |