melioration
Americannoun
-
Historical Linguistics. semantic change in a word to a more approved or more respectable meaning.
noun
Etymology
Origin of melioration
1620–30; < Late Latin meliōrātiōn- (stem of meliōrātiō ), equivalent to meliōrāt ( us ) ( see meliorate) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But professional reformation or melioration is usually an organic, incremental process.
From BusinessWeek ● Nov. 22, 2011
The cause of social melioration needs a union of hearts and hands.
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427 Volume 17, New Series, March 6, 1852 by Chambers, Robert
This spirit of melioration is constantly alive in the American republics, without compromising their tranquillity; the ambition of power yields to the less refined and less dangerous love of comfort.
From American Institutions and Their Influence by Tocqueville, Alexis de
Incapacity of melioration is the only mortal distemper.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 35, September, 1860 by Various
And every where her influence is felt, in the melioration of the public mind, as in the limited circle at the home fire-side.
From Graham's Magazine, Vol XXXIII, No. 6, December 1848 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
