Communication for development is a relatively new, yet important concept. Its evolution may seem relatively simple and unproblematic. Despite its academic and institutional functions, this concept is characterized by unique historical dynamics with an inconstant nature. The lack of a solid knowledge on the historical journey of the concept of communication for development may have negative long-term effects on theory and practice. Since the international community has had a major role in the creation and promotion of communication for development activities and processes, important conceptual trajectories can be traced in the archival materials of the United Nations and its agencies such as FAO and UNESCO. Nowadays digital archives provide valuable information. Since an unaware use of the expression "communication for development" raises significant confusion, historical analyses may bring some clarifications and alternative explanations. Begriffsgeschichte or conceptual history is an approach that equips the researchers with essential theoretical and methodological tools to understand the complex interdisciplinary frameworks that exist in the contemporary world. The combination between conceptual history, archival research and communication studies offers a window to the intrinsic value of development initiatives created by international organisations, which adopted relatively fast the concept of communication for development from the academic circles. Despite a relatively fast introduction in the frameworks of policies and programmes, the international community took almost four decades to agree on a solid working definition. The present analysis is systematised according to four essential steps: (1) conceptual pre-history; (2) conceptual emergence; (3) conceptual consolidation; (4) conceptual expansion. Each step is linked with the specific features of the historical context of media, communication and development activities since the Second World War. The critical reflection on these four steps of the evolution of the concept of communication for development will allow us to compute the value of communication processes in the field of development.