devolve (v.)

mid-15c., devolven, "to roll downward or onward" (a sense now archaic or obsolete), from Latin devolvere "to roll down," from de "down" (see de-) + volvere "to roll," from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve."

Figurative sense of "to cause to pass down, transfer (something) from one person to another" is from 1520s; sense of "be transferred or transmitted" is from 1550s. Meaning "to degenerate" is by 1830. Related: Devolved; devolving.