ameliorate
[uh-meel-yuh-reyt, uh-mee-lee-uh-]
- to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve: strategies to ameliorate negative effects on the environment.
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Also meliorate.
Origin of ameliorate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ameliorate
Contemporary Examples
At the time, Bratton sought to ameliorate the tension between the LAPD and Muslims.
Our first priority should be to ameliorate those circumstances.
Scientists therefore have to examine all those genes en masse to cure or ameliorate the disease.
“Isolation itself is very damaging, and there is no way to ameliorate it,” Kupers told The Daily Beast.
How can you determine the facts, spin the story, and attempt to ameliorate the damage?
Crisis-Management Experts Weigh In on How to Handle Petraeus ScandalSandra McElwaine
November 14, 2012
Historical Examples
Our chief desire is to ameliorate the condition of the malgamite workers.
Roden's CornerHenry Seton Merriman
He laboured to ameliorate the condition of the native Indians in the American colonies.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
Do you pretend that it is impossible to ameliorate the lot of the people?
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
And why do men go soldiering except to ameliorate existence?
The MemorabiliaXenophon
And the Church never, never raised a finger to ameliorate their condition.
The Necessity of AtheismDr. D.M. Brooks
ameliorate
- to make or become better; improve
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Word Origin
C18: from meliorate, influenced by French améliorer to improve, from Old French ameillorer to make better, from meillor better, from Latin melior
usage
Ameliorate is often wrongly used where alleviate is meant. Ameliorate is properly used to mean `improve', not `make easier to bear', so one should talk about alleviating pain or hardship, not ameliorating it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ameliorate
v.
1728, perhaps a back-formation from amelioration on pattern of French améliorer. The simpler form meliorate was used in Middle English. Related: Ameliorated; ameliorating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper