melioration

[ meel-yuh-rey-shuhn, mee-lee-uh- ]

noun

1. Historical Linguistics. semantic change in a word to a more approved or more respectable meaning. Compare pejoration ( def 2 ).
2. amelioration.

Word History and Origins

Origin of melioration¹

1620–30; < Late Latin meliōrātiōn- (stem of meliōrātiō ), equivalent to meliōrāt ( us ) ( meliorate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Peace followed victory, and the melioration of the condition of the enemy followed peace.

From Project Gutenberg

May every sun that shines on your green island see the annihilation of an abuse, and the birth of an embryon of melioration!

From Project Gutenberg

Every circumstance conspired to this melioration of the art in Florence as well as in other places.

From Project Gutenberg

But the seeds from a young tree, having itself the tendency to melioration, are more likely to produce improved sorts.

From Project Gutenberg

The principle of the one, in short, was melioration; of the other, conservation.

From Project Gutenberg